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diff --git a/40586.txt b/40586.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6af1932..0000000 --- a/40586.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6233 +0,0 @@ - BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: Billie Bradley and Her Classmates - The Secret of the Locked Tower - -Author: Janet D. Wheeler - -Release Date: August 26, 2012 [EBook #40586] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER -CLASSMATES *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net. - - - - - - BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES - - - OR - - - THE SECRET OF THE LOCKED TOWER - - - BY - - - JANET D. WHEELER - - - AUTHOR OF "BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCE," - "BILLIE BRADLEY ON LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND," ETC. - - - ILLUSTRATED - - - NEW YORK - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - Cupples & Leon Company - Publishers New York - - - Copyright, 1921 - Cupples & Leon Company - - - Billie Bradley and Her Classmates - PRINTED IN U. S. A. - - - - -[Illustration: They marched through crying "Way for the Queen."] - - - - -Contents - - - CHAPTER I--THIN ICE - CHAPTER II--NEARLY FROZEN - CHAPTER III--POLLY HADDON - CHAPTER IV--GENEROUS PLANS - CHAPTER V--BEARDING THE LION - CHAPTER VI--TROUBLE - CHAPTER VII--SETTLING A SCORE - CHAPTER VIII--JUST LIKE BILLIE! - CHAPTER IX--INTO SPACE - CHAPTER X--THE CAVE - CHAPTER XI--THE SIMPLETON - CHAPTER XII--THE ACCUSATION - CHAPTER XIII--BILLIE IS CHOSEN - CHAPTER XIV--A BLOOD-STAINED HANDKERCHIEF - CHAPTER XV--A DISCOVERY - CHAPTER XVI--CHRISTMAS CHEER - CHAPTER XVII--BILLIE ON GUARD - CHAPTER XVIII--AMANDA'S REVENGE - CHAPTER XIX--THE TOWER ROOM - CHAPTER XX--STOLEN - CHAPTER XXI--MORE MYSTERY - CHAPTER XXII--FIRST PRIZE - CHAPTER XXIII--DISGRACED - CHAPTER XXIV--TRIUMPH - CHAPTER XXV--PRETTY FROCKS - - - - -CHAPTER I--THIN ICE - - -Click! click! click! went three pairs of skates as three snugly-dressed -girls fairly flew along the frozen surface of the lake. - -"Isn't it glorious?" cried the laughing, brown-eyed one, who was no -other than Billie Bradley, as she threw back her head and sniffed the -crisp, cold air. "Who ever heard of the lake freezing over in the middle -of November? And the ice is pretty solid, too." - -"In spots," added Violet Farrington, a slender, dark girl with black -hair and dark eyes. - -"What do you mean--'in spots'?" asked the third of the trio, Laura -Jordon. Laura was as fair as Violet was dark, and now her blue eyes -darted an anxious glance at her chum. "Do you think we shall find any -thin ice?" - -"I don't know, of course," Violet answered quickly. "But you notice Miss -Walters told us to stay close to the shore, and that certainly looks as -if she weren't any too certain about the ice." - -Miss Walters was the much-loved principal of Three Towers Hall, the -boarding school which the girls were attending, and to the three chums, -Miss Walters' word was law. - -As Billie Bradley had said, Lake Molata, upon which Three Towers Hall -was situated, had frozen over unusually early this year. Though it was -not quite the middle of November, there had been several rather heavy -snowfalls. The thermometer had fallen lower and lower till it had -dropped below the freezing point, and after a few days of this falling -weather a thin glaze of ice had begun to form over the still surface of -the lake. - -At first the girls had not been too joyful, fearing that the ice was too -fragile to last and that one good thaw would do away with it entirely. - -But the thaw had not come, and as day after day the prematurely cold -weather continued, the girls at the Hall had grown more and more -excited. Finally they could stand it no longer and dispatched a -committee of three to Miss Walters--among whom had been Billie--asking -for the unique privilege of skating over the frozen surface of Lake -Molata in the middle of November. - -The petition had been granted, with the reservation, as Vi had said, -that the girls should stay close to shore and not venture out into the -uncertain center of the lake. - -When the jubilant committee of three had brought back the glad news to -the eagerly waiting girls the dormitories had been the scene of wild but -noiseless fancy dancing in celebration of the great event. - -Soon after was heard the clinking of skates and the babble of excited -girls' voices as those of the students who were lucky enough to have -prepared their lessons for the next day, and so had the afternoon free, -made ready for the fun. - -Then, down the sloping lawn of Three Towers Hall, the hard, crusted snow -crackling merrily under their feet, down to the edge of the lake where -skates were put on, mufflers tightened and woolly caps pulled well down -to protect ears that already were feeling the nip of the cold, rushed -the crowd of excited, happy girls. - -Fun! Any one who has tasted the joy of skating over freshly-frozen ice -on a crisp winter day when the sun, pouring down, seems only to make the -air more chill, any one who has tasted that joy, knows that there is no -other sport like it. - -So, singly, in groups of two or three, in parties of four, the girls -spread out over the lake, their gayly hued caps and sweaters making -vivid patches of color on the surface. - -Although they had started out with the rest of the girls, Billie and -Laura and Vi had become separated from them some way or other, and they -now found themselves skimming merrily along with not another person in -sight. This did not worry them, however, because they had learned by -experience that whenever the three of them were together they were -always sure of having a good time. - -"A week from now," Billie cried, strands of hair escaping from under her -tam-o'-shanter and whipping about her glowing face, "the lake will -probably look as though we had dragged a farmer's plow across it." - -"A week from now we may not have any ice at all," added Vi -pessimistically. - -Laura, who was skating between them, let go their hands for a moment to -fasten her sweater still more closely about her throat. The wind had -stung her face to a vivid red. - -"I must say you both sound cheerful," she said reproachfully, adding -with a gay little toss of her head: "From the way this wind feels, I'd -say we were going to have ice all winter." - -"Don't wake her up, she is dreaming," sang Billie mockingly, adding, as -Laura gave her a push that would have unbalanced a less skillful skater: -"Who ever heard of Lake Molata being frozen over all winter?" - -"Well, who ever heard of its being frozen over in the middle of -November?" Laura retorted, adding with a grin as Billie looked -nonplussed: "I guess that will hold you for a while." - -"Laura Jordon," said Vi, folding her mittened hands and trying to look -very prim and teacher-like, "report to Miss Walters immediately. That is -the third time you have used slang this morning." - -The girls giggled, and this time it was Vi who got the push. - -"Go long with you," said Billie gayly. "You can't imitate the Dill -Pickles in a red sweater and a green cap." - -The Dill Pickles, as my old readers will remember, were two teachers, -Miss Ada and Miss Cora Dill, who had recently lived at the Hall. The two -had done their best to make the girls' lives miserable and had finally, -after the students had revolted and marched out of the school, been sent -away by Miss Walters. - -The vacancies had been filled by teachers who were as different from the -Miss Dills in every way as they could be, and since then life at Three -Towers Hall had been one happy round of study and fun for the girls. - -"Thank goodness the Dills have gone forever," said Vi, in response to -Billie's observation. - -"Yes," agreed Laura, reminiscently. "It was a lot of trouble, getting -rid of them, but it was worth it." - -"There are only nice teachers up at the Hall now," said Billie, -contentedly. "Especially Miss Arbuckle." - -"Isn't she ducky?" said Laura, enthusiastically, if disrespectfully. "I -was afraid she might change her mind and take up her old job of -governess to those two kiddies." - -"I wouldn't have blamed her much, if she had," Vi said, with a chuckle. -"She might make the little children behave, while with us----" - -"She hasn't a chance," giggled Billie. - -"Just the same," put in Laura, with unusual gravity, "you notice that we -all do what Miss Arbuckle says. She isn't stern like Miss Race, either, -nor nasty like the Dill Pickles used to be. I guess we just obey her -because we all like her," she finished simply. - -"That's right, and----" Billie was saying when suddenly the ice cracked -under her skates and with a cry she lunged forward. Luckily her feet -struck on solid ice beyond the cracked part, and with difficulty she -regained her balance. - -"The ice!" she gasped, as Laura and Vi stared at her. "I struck a thin -spot, I guess. Goodness, that scared me!" - -"I should say so," agreed Laura, with a little whistle of astonishment -as she edged over to the treacherous place in the ice which was -crisscrossed over with long cracks. "Look here, girls. I could almost -push this ice through with my finger." - -"Well, don't try it," advised Vi, backing away anxiously from the -dangerous spot. "I wonder if there any more places like it." - -"S'pose there are--lots of them," said Billie, who had recovered from -her fright and was disposed to treat the whole thing as a joke. "The -thing for us to do is to keep out of their way, that's all." - -"Sounds easy," grumbled Vi as they joined hands again and skated on more -slowly over the frozen surface. "But how are we going to know where the -thin places are unless we step on 'em--and fall through, maybe?" - -"P'r'aps we'd better go back if----" Billie was beginning uneasily when -a sudden, terrified scream cut her short. It was a child's scream and it -was followed by another, and yet another. - -"Oh!" cried Laura wildly, "somebody's getting killed." - - - - -CHAPTER II--NEARLY FROZEN - - -The screams for help seemed to be quite near the girls, but whoever was -in trouble was hidden from them by a sharp bend in the lake shore. - -Without further thought of danger to themselves, the chums skated -forward swiftly, the long fringed ends of their scarfs flying out behind -them and their bodies thrown eagerly forward. - -"Maybe somebody is drowning!" - -"It's some great peril, you may be sure of that--otherwise they wouldn't -scream so." - -"They are children!" - -"Yes, and little ones at that, if I am any judge of voices." - -Thus talking excitedly the girls skated forward along the lake shore. -Then came a sudden scream from Vi. She had skated too close to an -overhanging tree and a branch caught in her hair as she tried to sweep -past. - -"Wait! wait!" she cried. "Don't leave me behind!" - -"What's the trouble?" came simultaneously from the others. - -"I'm caught--my hair is fast in the tree." - -"Pull yourself loose," cried Billie. "Hurry, do! Oh, just listen to -those cries!" she added, as scream after scream rent the wintry air. - -In frantic haste poor Vi tried to do as bidden. But the tree was a -thorny one, and she had considerable trouble to liberate herself. - -Then came fresh trouble as Billie's left skate became loosened. - -"I've got to fasten it," she said, and bent down to do so. Then the -classmates swept forward as before. - -They rounded the bend in the lake a minute later and then drew up -suddenly as they came upon a singular scene. - -Three small children, a boy and two girls, were standing up to their -waists in the icy water. Evidently they had ventured out upon the lake -in a spirit of mischief, and had stepped upon thin ice which had given -way beneath even their slight weight. Luckily they had not got far from -the shore, for if the ice had broken through in a deeper part of the -lake they must surely have been drowned. As it was, they were three very -badly frightened children who were beginning to feel numb with the cold. - -At sight of the girls they began to wail afresh and held out their -little arms imploringly. - -The sight was too much for Billie, and she began to edge her way -cautiously along the thin ice, calling to the girls to follow her -example. - -"Be careful," she warned. "If we went through, too, it would be hard to -get out, and while we were trying it the kiddies would probably freeze -to death. Look out!" she exclaimed, as the ice cracked treacherously -under her weight. "It is paper-thin right here." - -And while the girls are busy at their work of rescue we will take a few -minutes to tell those who are meeting Billie Bradley and her chums for -the first time something of the good times the girls have had in other -volumes of the series. - -In the first book, called "Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance," the -girls had many and varied adventures, some of which were thrilling and -others only funny. Just when Billie was wondering how to raise one -hundred dollars to pay for a statue which she had accidentally broken, a -queer old aunt of hers, Beatrice Powerson by name, died and left to her -an inheritance which had at first seemed a doubtful blessing, namely a -rambling gloomy old homestead at a place called Cherry Corners. - -The house dated back to Revolutionary times and had many weird and -romantic legends attached to it. The girls, anxious to see the old place -for themselves, had decided to spend their vacation there, and a little -later some boys had joined them. - -They had an unusual and exciting time of it and the climax of the whole -outing was the finding of a shabby old trunk which was hidden away in -the attic. This trunk contained five thousand dollars' worth of rare old -coins and queer postage stamps, and this small fortune enabled Billie -not only to replace the statue she had broken but gave her more than -enough to send herself to Three Towers Hall and her brother Chet to -Boxton Military Academy. - -But we forgot entirely to introduce the boys! And they at least -considered themselves by far the most important part of the story. Here -they are then--First of all comes Chetwood Bradley, Billie's brother, -whom his friends called Chet for short. Chet was a lovable boy, -good-looking, quiet, reserved and devoted to Billie--whose real name, by -the way, was Beatrice. - -Then there was Ferd Stowing, an all-around good-natured boy who always -added a great deal to whatever fun was at hand. And last, but not least, -Laura's brother Teddy. Teddy was fifteen, as were the other boys, but, -unlike them, he looked quite a good deal older than he was. He was tall, -with wavy hair and handsome gray eyes and an athletic build which was -the envy of most of the boys at North Bend, where the young folks lived. -Teddy had always liked Billie a lot because, as he told his sister, -Laura, Billie was the nearest like a boy of all the girls he knew. She -liked sports almost as well as he did and so as a matter of course they -played tennis and hiked and skated a good deal together. - -Returning from their vacation in the old homestead at Cherry Corners, -the girls went straight to Three Towers Hall, the boarding school to -which their parents were sending them, partly because the young folks -wanted to go and partly because the high school at North Bend was -hopelessly inefficient and unsatisfactory. - -At the same time, the boys departed for Boxton Military Academy which -was only a little over a mile from the boarding school and which was -also situated close to Lake Molata. - -The good times the young folks had at school are told in the second -volume of the series entitled, "Billie Bradley at Three Towers Hall." -The most startling thing that happened during the year was the capture -of the man whom the boys and girls had named the "Codfish" on account of -his peculiarly fish-like mouth. The latter had once attempted to steal -Billie's precious trunk, and had later on been suspected of planning and -carrying out a robbery at Boxton Military Academy. Later, he had robbed -Miss Race, one of the teachers at the Hall. - -The girls had made new friends--and enemies also,--at Three Towers Hall. -Chief among the enemies were Amanda Peabody and her chum, Eliza Dilks. -The girls were both sneaks and tattletales, and the former, being -jealous of Billie and her chums, had done her best to make life -unbearable for them at Three Towers. That the disagreeable girls had not -succeeded, was not in the least their fault. - -Another enemy of Billie's had been Rose Belser, a pretty, black-haired, -very vain girl who was also jealous of Billie because of her unusual and -immediate popularity with the girls. However, even Rose was won over to -Billie's side in the end and became sincerely repentant for her mean -behavior. - -Connie Danvers, a pretty, fluffy-haired girl, became a staunch friend of -the chums at once, and it was she who had invited Billie and Laura and -Vi to spend their vacation at Lighthouse Island where her parents had a -summer bungalow. Connie's Uncle John, an interesting, bluff character, -lived at the lighthouse on the island. - -The girls had become very much interested in a mystery surrounding Miss -Arbuckle, one of the very nice new teachers who had come to Three Towers -to replace the disagreeable "Dill Pickles." They had also met a queer -looking man one day when they were lost in the woods, and they had -wondered about him a great deal. - -It seems Miss Arbuckle had been very greatly disturbed over the loss of -an album, and when Billie, accidentally stumbling upon the book, had -returned it to the teacher, the latter had wept with joy. Turning over -the pages of the album until she came to the pictures of three beautiful -children she had cried out: "Oh my precious children. I couldn't lose -your pictures after losing you." - -Of course this exclamation, together with Miss Arbuckle's strange -conduct, considerably puzzled the girls, and they wondered about it all -during the vacation at Lighthouse Island. Then one day a terrible storm -came up and a ship was wrecked on one of the treacherous shoals which -surrounded the island. The girls, helping in the work of rescue, -discovered three children lashed to a rude raft, and after releasing the -little victims, the girls had carried them to the Lighthouse to be cared -for. - -Later, Billie saw a marked resemblance in the three children to the -pictures of the children she had seen in Miss Arbuckle's album, and what -strange discovery this led to is told in the third volume of this series -entitled "Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island." - -And now the girls were all back at Three Towers again in search of -further education, likewise, they hoped, much fun and adventure. - -"Don't come any farther," Billie said to Laura and Vi, as she stretched -herself out at full length on the ice and reached out to grasp one of -the children in the water. "Lie down on the thick ice, both of you, and -hold on to me just as hard as you can. When I say pull--pull!" - -Obediently Laura and Vi flopped down on the ice, each grasping one of -Billie's feet and holding on stoutly. - -"I'd like to see you get away from us now," said Laura. - -Leaning over, Billie grasped the nearest child under the arms and tugged -with all her strength. - -"Pull!" she gasped to the girls, "I'm slipping." - -The girls pulled and dragged her, child and all, out on the more solid -ice. They set the child on his poor shivering little feet and then went -back for the next one. A moment more and all three of the little things -were standing huddled together on the ice, shivering and crying -miserably. - -"I wanna do home!" wailed the little boy. "I wanna do home." - - - - -CHAPTER III--POLLY HADDON - - -"Where do you live?" asked Billie, turning to the oldest of the three -children. "Tell us quick, so we can get you there." - -"We live wiv our muvver, Polly Haddon," said the little one quaintly, -pointing with a shivering finger out across the lake. "We runned away -dis mornin'." - -"So we see," said Laura, adding, as she turned to Billie: "I think I -know where they live. Teddy pointed the house out to me one day when we -were taking a hike through the woods. Said he and the boys had stopped -there one day and had bought some waffles and real maple syrup from Mrs. -Haddon. Of course, I don't know whether it is the same one or not----" - -"Well, come on--we'll find out," said Billie, lifting the largest of the -three children in her strong arms. "You and Vi can manage the other two -kiddies, I guess. You lead the way, Laura, if you know where the house -is." - -"But hadn't we better take our skates off and walk around?" suggested -Vi. - -"We can make it quicker on skates," said Billie impatiently, "because we -can cut across the lake----" - -"But the ice!" Laura objected. "It may not be solid----" - -"We'll have to take a chance on that," Billie returned, adding with an -exasperated stamp of her foot, "if you don't hurry and show us the way, -Laura, I'll do it myself." - -So Laura, knowing that nothing could change Billie's mind when it was -once made up, caught the little boy in her arms and started off across -the lake, Billie and Vi following close behind her. - -Luckily the children were not heavy, being thin almost to emaciation, or -the girls could never have made their goal. As it was, they had to stop -several times and set the children down on the ice to rest. - -And more than once the treacherous ice cracked under their feet, -frightening them horribly. They made it at last, however, and with a -sigh of relief set the children on the ground while they fumbled with -numbed fingers at their skate straps. - -"Is this where you live?" asked Billie of the elder of the two little -girls. Billie had undone the last strap buckle and was peering off -through the woods in search of some sort of habitation. - -"Yes," answered the little girl through chattering teeth. "Our house is -just a little way off, along that path." - -She pointed to a narrow foot path, or rather, to the place where a foot -path had once been. For now it was obliterated by snow and was indicated -only very faintly by footprints recently made. - -Billie, seeing that the other girls were ready, caught up the little -girl again, holding her close for warmth and started down the -snow-covered path, Laura and Vi following. - -The snow was hard, which made the going a little easier, and in a minute -or two they came in sight of a shabby cabin set in the heart of a small -clearing. - -If the place had been a mansion, the girls could not have greeted the -sight of it any more joyfully. They stumbled forward recklessly at the -imminent risk of dropping the poor little children in the snow. - -Before they could reach the cottage the door of it opened and a woman -stood on the threshold, hatless and coatless and staring at them -anxiously. - -When she recognized the children she gave a gesture of relief and backed -into the house, motioning to the girls to follow her. - -This the girls were not in the least reluctant to do, for they were -chilled through, and the warmth of Mrs. Haddon's kitchen was wonderfully -comforting. - -They set the children on the floor, and the little ones ran straight to -their mother. Polly Haddon dropped to her knees and put her arms around -the three of them, cuddling them hungrily. - -"My precious little lambs, you frightened mother so!" she said. "She -thought you were lost--but you are wet--or you have been!" She rose to -her feet and faced the girls while the children clung to her skirts. - -"Where did you find my little ones?" she asked abruptly, looking -anxiously from one to the other of them. - -"We found them up to their waists in icy water," Billie explained, -knowing that no time was to be lost if the children were to be saved -from a bad cold. "They fell through the ice on the lake." - -"Fell through the ice!" the woman repeated dumbly, then, seeming -suddenly to realize the full seriousness of the situation, she roused -herself to action. - -With a quick motion she swept the children nearer to the warmth of the -coal stove, then started for a door at the opposite end of the room. -Then as if she realized that something was due the girls, she paused and -looked back at them. - -"Draw up chairs close to the fire and warm yourselves," she directed. -"You must be nearly frozen." - -The girls managed to find three rather rickety old chairs, and these -they drew as close to the stove as they could without scorching their -clothes. They tried to draw the children into their laps, but the -children were either too miserable to want to be touched by strangers or -they had become a little shy. At any rate, they drew away so sharply -that one of them nearly fell on the stove. This frightened them all and -they began to cry dismally. - -The girls were glad when Mrs. Haddon returned with three shabby but warm -little bath robes which she hung close to the stove. Then she undressed -the children quickly, rubbed their little bodies till they were in a -glow, then slipped them into the snug robes. - -And all the time she was doing it she kept up a running fire of -conversation with the girls. - -"Thank goodness," she said, "I only missed the children a little while -ago. They have always been so good to play close to the house, and I was -so busy I didn't look out as usual. And to think that they ran away and -fell into the lake! Well, it's only one more trouble, that's all. It's -funny how a person can become used to trouble after a while." - -"But it would have been so much worse," Billie suggested, gently, "if -the kiddies had fallen through into deeper water." - -"Eh?" said Mrs. Haddon, looking up at Billie quickly, then down again. -"Yes, I suppose that would have been worse." Then she added, with a -bitterness the girls did not understand: "It isn't often that the worst -doesn't happen to me." - -Puzzled, the girls looked at each other, then around the bare, -specklessly clean little kitchen. - -That Mrs. Haddon was very poor, there could be no doubt. The shabbiness -of the place, her dress, and the children's clothes all showed that. But -could poverty alone account for the sadness in her voice? - -Mrs. Haddon had once been a very pretty woman, and she was sweet looking -yet, in spite of the lines of worry about her mouth. She had lovely -hair, black as night and thick, but she had arranged it carelessly, and -long strands of it had pulled loose from the pins and straggled down -over her forehead. At this moment, as though she felt the eyes of the -girls upon her, she flung the untidy hair back with an impatient -movement. - -"How old are the kiddies?" asked Laura, feeling that the silence was -becoming awkward. "They look almost the same age." - -"There isn't more than a year's difference between Mary and Peter here," -indicating the taller of the two little girls and the boy. "And Isabel -is thirteen months younger than Peter. Mary is nine years old," she -added as a sort of afterthought. - -"Nine years old!" cried Vi, in surprise. "Why, that would make Peter -eight and the little girl seven. I thought they were much younger than -that." - -"Yes," added Laura, thoughtlessly, "they are very tiny for their age." - -As though the innocent words had been a deadly insult, the woman rose -from her knees and shot the girls so black a glance from her dark eyes -that they were frightened. - -"My children are tiny--yes," she said in a hard voice, repeating what -Laura had said. "And no wonder they are small, when for years they have -been half starved." - -Then she turned quickly and herded the three frightened little ones out -of the room. - -"You go to bed," she said to them as they disappeared through the door. - -Left to themselves, the girls looked blankly at one another. - -"Billie, did you hear what I heard?" asked Laura, anxiously. "Did she -really mean that the kiddies are so little because they don't get enough -to eat?" - -"Sounds that way," said Billie pityingly. "Poor little things!" - -"We must find some way to help them," Vi was beginning when Mrs. Haddon -herself came into the room. - -She seemed to be sorry for what she had said, and she told them so. She -drew up the only chair that was left in the bare little room and sat -down, facing the chums. - -"You must have thought it very strange for me to speak as I did," she -began, and went on hurriedly as the girls seemed about to protest. "But -I have had so much trouble for years that sometimes I don't know just -what I'm doing." - -"Have you lived alone here for very long?" asked Billie, gently. - -"Ever since my husband died," answered Polly Haddon, leaning back in her -chair as though she were tired and smoothing her heavy hair back from -her forehead. "He was an inventor," she went on, encouraged by the -girls' friendly interest, to tell of her troubles. "For years he made -hardly enough to keep us alive, and after the children came we had a -harder pull of it than ever. Then suddenly," she straightened up in her -chair and into her black eyes came a strange gleam, "suddenly, my -husband found the one little thing that was wrong with the invention he -had been working on for so long--just some little thing it was, that a -child could almost see, yet that he had overlooked--and we were fairly -crazy with happiness. We thought we had at last realized our dream of a -fortune." - -She paused a moment, evidently living over that time in her mind, and -the girls, fired by her excitement, waited impatiently for her to go on. - -"What happened then?" asked Vi. - -"Then," said the woman, the light dying out of her eyes, leaving them -tired and listless again, "the invention was stolen." - -"Stolen!" they echoed, breathlessly. - -The woman nodded wearily. She had evidently lost all interest in her -story. - -"My husband suspected a Philadelphia knitting company, whom he had told -of his invention and who were very enthusiastic over it, of having some -hand in the robbery. But when he accused them of it they denied it and -offered a reward of twenty thousand dollars for the recovery of the -models of the machinery." - -"Twenty thousand dollars!" repeated Billie in an awed tone. "I guess -they must have liked your husband's invention pretty well to offer all -that money for it." - -The woman nodded, drearily, while two big tears rolled slowly down her -face. - -"Yes, I think they would have accepted it and paid my husband almost -anything he would have asked for it," she answered. - -"But haven't you ever found out who stole it?" asked Vi, eagerly. "I -should think that the thief, whoever he is, would have brought the -invention back because of the twenty thousand dollars." - -The woman nodded again. - -"Yes, that was the queer thing about it," she said. "When the knitting -company first told us of the reward we were jubilant, my husband and I. -We thought surely we would recover the precious invention then. But as -the weeks went by and we heard nothing, the strain was too much. Poor -Frank, after all those years of struggle, with victory snatched away at -the last minute, when he had every right to think it in his grasp--my -poor husband could fight no longer. He died." - -With these words the poor woman bowed her head upon her hands and sobbed -brokenly. The girls, feeling heartily sorry for her trouble but helpless -to comfort her, rose awkwardly to their feet and picked up their skates -from the floor where they had thrown them. - -Billie went over to the sobbing woman and patted her shyly on the -shoulder. - -"I--I wish I could help you," she ventured. "I--we are dreadfully sorry -for you." - -Then as the woman neither moved nor made an answer, Billie motioned to -Laura and Vi and they stepped quietly from the room into the chill of -the open, closing the door softly behind them. - - - - -CHAPTER IV--GENEROUS PLANS - - -The girls talked a great deal of Mrs. Haddon and her trouble as they put -on their skates and slowly skated back to the Hall. - -"It must be dreadful," Laura was saying thoughtfully just as the three -towers of the school loomed up before them, "not to have enough to eat. -Just think of it, girls, to be hungry--and not have enough to eat!" - -No wonder this condition of affairs seemed unusually horrible, in fact -almost impossible to luxury-loving Laura, whose father was one of the -richest and most influential men in rich and influential North Bend. To -Laura it seemed incredible that every one should not have enough and to -spare of the good things that, rightly used, go to make happiness in -this strange old world. She had never known what it was to have a wish -that was not gratified almost on the instant. - -"Yes, it must be awful," Billie answered soberly, in response to Laura's -exclamation. "And I'm sure," she added decidedly, "that I won't be able -to enjoy another good meal until I know that those three poor little -kiddies and Mrs. Haddon have had all they could possibly eat--for once, -at least." - -"What do you mean?" they asked, wonderingly. - -"We'll pack a basket," planned Billie, growing excited over the great -idea which had just that minute occurred to her. "We'll put everything -in it that we can possibly think of, chicken sandwiches and a bottle of -current jelly, a thermos bottle of hot coffee and another of milk for -the children----" - -"Say wake up, wake up," begged Laura, irreverently. "Where do you -suppose we are going to get all this stuff anyway? It's too late to go -to town----" - -"Who said anything about going to town?" Billie interrupted impatiently. -"I'm going straight to Miss Walters and tell her all about the Haddon -family and ask her to let us raid the kitchen and make up the basket -ourselves. We can pay for the things," she added, as an afterthought. - -"It's a bright idea--but it takes nerve," said Laura slangily. "Miss -Walters may not like the idea of feeding the countryside." - -"I'm not asking her to feed the countryside," Billie retorted, adding -comfortably as a picture of Miss Walters, white-haired, blue-eyed and -sweet, rose before her: "I'm sure she will let us do it just this once." - -For Miss Walters, strict though she was at maintaining discipline in the -school, was nevertheless generosity and kindness itself to every one -about her. - -"But," said Laura, uttering one last protest, "I don't believe Mrs. -Haddon would accept anything that looked like charity. She's too proud." - -"We won't take any chances on her being too proud to accept it," said -Billie decidedly, adding with a chuckle: "We'll do the way the boys used -to do on Hallowe'en, ring the bell and run." - -They had no other chance to talk, for in a minute they were surrounded -by about a dozen of their classmates who all began scolding them at once -about running away and demanded to know where they had been, so that -plans for the Haddons were pushed temporarily into the background. - -Laughing and shouting to each other the girls took off their skates and -scrambled up the long terraced hill that led to Three Towers. - -If the Hall and its surroundings were beautiful in the summer time, it -was even more attractive in the winter. The ivy that covered the -green-gray stone of the building was now frosted white with snow and -ice, and this, catching the ruddy gleam of the afternoon sun, gave the -Hall the appearance of a great, sparkling jewel. - -The three towers which gave the school its name made the place seem like -some castle of old, and the surrounding trees and shrubbery, heavily -coated with snow and icicles, gave to the old building just the air of -mystery that it needed. - -The beauty of the familiar place struck Billie afresh, and she stopped -short suddenly and gazed up at it with loving eyes. - -"Isn't it lovely to have a place like this to come home to?" she said, -as the girls looked at her inquiringly, "when you are tired and cold -and----" - -"Hungry," finished Laura, giving her a shove. "Giddap, Billie, you're -slowing down the works." - -"Slang again," sighed Vi, plaintively, as Billie obligingly "giddaped." -"If I should tell Miss Walters----" - -"You would never live to tell another tale," prophesied Laura, amid a -gale of laughter from the girls. "Two sneaks and tattletales are -enough," she added significantly, as she caught sight of Amanda Peabody -and Eliza Dilks walking a little ahead of them. - -"I wonder where Connie and Nellie have kept themselves," said Billie, as -she with the other girls crowded through the wide door of the Hall. - -"They were up in the dorm, cramming for the exams when I saw them last," -said a tall girl at Billie's elbow. She had evidently not been with the -girls on the lake, for she wore no coat or hat and she carried a book -under each arm as though she also had been studying. - -"Oh, hello, Carol!" greeted Billie, putting an arm about the tall girl -and sweeping her toward the stairs. "So you've been grinding away as -usual when you ought to have been out getting some good fresh air. My, -you look as pale as a ghost." - -For the tall girl, so studiously inclined, was none other than Caroline -Brant, who had been such a good friend to Billie upon her arrival at -Three Towers Hall the year before. The girls were all fond of Caroline, -in spite of the undeniable fact that she was one of those usually -despised students commonly known as "grinds." - -"You know I don't skate," Caroline said in response to Billie's -accusation. "And I never could see why people prefer freezing their toes -and noses to staying comfortably indoors." - -"You're an old lamb," said Billie with a squeeze. "But there are lots of -things that you never will see!" - -As Caroline had predicted, the chums found Connie Danvers and Nellie -Bane in the dormitory, curled up uncomfortably on the bed, heads bent -disconsolately over two thick and bulky history books. - -When the door burst open and the chums swung into the room, skates slung -over shoulders, eyes bright and cheeks glowing from exercise, the two on -the bed flung away their books and looked despairingly at the newcomers. - -"Great heavens, here they are back already," cried Connie, running her -hands wildly through her fluffy hair. "And I haven't learned more than -five dates so I can say them straight." - -"And that's just five more than I have learned," cried Billie gayly, -dropping her skates in a corner and flinging herself on the edge of the -bed. "Come closer, girls," she added, lowering her voice to a mysterious -whisper while Nellie and Connie wriggled over to her. "I would whisper -in thine ear. We have met with an adventure!" - - - - -CHAPTER V--BEARDING THE LION - - -The one word "adventure" was enough to make the girls all interest at -once. Caroline Brant wedged herself into a square inch of space on the -bed between Connie and the bedpost, and as Rose Belser came in at that -moment the girls motioned her to join them. - -"What's up?" asked Rose, flinging off her cap and scarf as she came. -"Billie been getting into mischief again? Or is it only trouble this -time?" - -"Trouble, I guess," said Billie, and then she told them the astonishing -tale of what had happened that afternoon. But instead of being -interested as she had expected them to be, the girls actually seemed -disappointed. - -"Well, was that all you had to tell us?" asked Connie, when she had -finished. "I'm surprised at you, Billie. I thought you had really done -something exciting." - -"Yes," added Rose, in her aggravating little drawl, as she rose to get -ready for dinner, "it was awfully good of you to rescue those three -annoying little brats and return them to their distracted mother and all -that. But I don't see anything dreadfully hair-raising about it." - -Rose read books that were too old for her and ran with girls who were -too old for her and so she herself contrived to seem much older than she -was. And sometimes Billie found this manner extremely irritating, in -spite of the fact that she and Rose were friends--now. - -"I suppose it doesn't seem very exciting to you," she said, as she -pulled off her cap and unwound the muffler from about her neck. "But I -presume you would be a little bit more interested if it was _you_ who -didn't have enough to eat." - -"Don't be mad at us, Billie," Connie begged, patting Billie's hand -soothingly. "Of course we all feel sorry for the poor little kiddies and -their mother and we want to help them all we can. But you can't blame us -for being disappointed when you said you had had an adventure." - -"I wonder if you would call it an adventure," mused Billie, more to -herself than to them, "if one of us should find that stolen invention -and claim the twenty thousand dollars reward for it!" - -Her classmates stopped what they were doing and stared at her. - -"Wh--what did you say?" demanded Connie. - -"You heard me," said Billie, with a grin. - -"But, Billie, you know that's absurd," said Rose, in her best drawl. -"How could we possibly hope to find a thing that has been missing for a -couple of years?" - -"It may be absurd," said Billie good-naturedly, pulling the ribbon from -her curls and brushing them vigorously. "I think it sounds foolish -myself. But while there's life, there's hope. Hand me that comb, will -you, Vi?" - -A few minutes later the big gong sounded through the halls, announcing -gratefully to the hungry girls that dinner was ready. And now that the -vinegary Misses Dill had gone, delight reigned supreme in the dining -hall. - -The girls had all they could possibly eat of good satisfying food and -they were allowed to chatter as much as they would as long as they did -not become too noisy. - -But although they had chicken for dinner and cranberry sauce and creamed -cauliflower, things all of which she especially liked, Billie enjoyed it -less than any meal she had ever eaten. - -Again and again before her eyes arose the reproachful images of the -three little Haddons, undersized, undernourished, half-starved. - -She could hardly wait until dessert had been served, and then, with a -murmured word to Laura and Vi, she excused herself from the table and -went in search of Miss Walters. - -She found that lady in the act of drinking her after-dinner coffee in -the privacy of her own little domain. - -Miss Walters had a suite of three rooms all to herself: a bedroom, a -dressing-room and a sitting-room, and all three of the rooms were fitted -up in a manner that befitted a queen. - -The sitting-room was done in mahogany and blue. An exquisite Persian rug -of dull blue covered the floor and the rich mahogany furniture was all -upholstered in blue velour. The curtain draperies were all of this same -rich blue over cream-colored lace. In the center of the room was a huge -mahogany library table upon which stood a handsome reading lamp with a -blue silk shade. - -Billie, who had never been in this sanctum before and who had seen Miss -Walters only in her office, was amazed when, in reply to her timid -knock, the principal invited her to enter. - -For a moment she stood dumbly staring, while Miss Walters set down her -cup and looked up with a smile. The smile changed to a look of surprise -and then to annoyance as the principal saw who the intruder was. - -"It must be something very important to bring you here at this hour, -Beatrice," said Miss Walters, while poor Billie began to wish herself -back in the security of dormitory C. She was too frightened to explain -her presence, and yet she knew that Miss Walters expected an -explanation. "What is it you wish?" asked the latter, impatiently. - -"I--I'm sorry," said Billie at last, backing away toward the door. "I -shouldn't have come--but I thought--that is, I thought it was -important." She was half through the door by this time, and Miss -Walters, her annoyance changing to amusement, took pity on her. - -"What was important?" she asked, adding, as Billie still continued to -back away: "Come in here, Billie Bradley, and shut that door. There's a -draft in the hall." - -Relieved at the use of the familiar name Billie, the girl obeyed, -shutting the door softly, then turned imploringly to the teacher. - -"Sit down," commanded the latter, pointing to one of the blue velour -armchairs near by. "Now tell me the 'important thing' you came about -while I finish my coffee." - -Billie made poor work of her story at first, for she was still wondering -how she had ever had the courage to approach Miss Walters in the privacy -of her sanctum sanctorum, but as she went on she became less -self-conscious and was encouraged by Miss Walters' unfeigned interest. - -And when, at the end of the recital, Miss Walters reached over and -patted her hand and told her she had been quite right in coming to her -as she had, Billie was in the seventh heaven of delight. - -"With poverty behind them, fortune and comfort ahead, and then again, -desolation!" Miss Walters mused, talking more to herself than Billie. -"How the human mind can stand up under the strain is a mystery to me. -Poor, starving little mites and pitiful, noble mother, fighting for her -young with the only weapons she has. Lucky mother to have come to the -notice of a girl like you, Billie Bradley," she added, turning upon -Billie so warm and bright a smile that the girl's heart swelled with -pride and adoration. - -"Then you will let us help the Haddons?" she asked breathlessly. - -"More than that," smiled Miss Walters. "I will _help_ you to help them. -I think it is too late to follow out your plan of taking them something -to-night." But she added as she saw Billie's bright face fall: "But we -will pack a basket full to the brim with good things early to-morrow -morning and you and Laura and Violet may take them to the cottage after -breakfast. Only, you must walk around the lake. I could not take the -chance of your skating after what happened this afternoon." - -Billie stammered out some incoherent words of thanks, Miss Walters -patted her cheek, and in another moment she found herself standing -outside in the hall in a sort of happy daze. - -A girl passed her, eyed her curiously, went on a few steps and then came -back. It was Eliza Dilks. - -"In Miss Walters' room at night," said the sneering voice that Billie -knew only too well. "No wonder you get away with everything--teacher's -pet." - -Billie started to retort angrily, but knowing that silence was the very -worst punishment one could inflict upon Eliza she merely shrugged her -shoulders, turned up her straight little nose as far as it would go and -walked off, leaving Eliza fuming helplessly. - -When Billie reached the dormitory she found the girls waiting for her in -an agitated group. There was not one of them who would have dared to -approach Miss Walters after school hours unless it had been about a -matter of life and death importance, and they had more than half -expected that Billie would be carried back on a stretcher. - -When they found out what had really happened they welcomed Billie as a -hero should be welcomed. They lifted her on their shoulders and carried -her round the dormitory, chanting school songs till a warning hiss from -one of the girls near the door sent them scuttling. By the time Miss -Arbuckle reached the dormitory, they were bent decorously over their -text-books, seeking what knowledge they might discover! - -Next morning, true to her word, Miss Walters herself superintended the -packing of an immense basket with all the dainties at her command. There -were chicken and roast beef sandwiches, half of a leg of lamb, two or -three different kinds of jelly, some rice pudding left over from the -night before, a big slab of cake, two quarts of fresh milk, and some -beef tea made especially for the Haddons. - -And the girls, feeling more important than they had ever felt before in -their lives, marched off after breakfast, during school hours--Miss -Walters having personally excused them from class--joyfully bent upon -playing the good Samaritan. - -"I never knew," said Laura, as if she were making a great discovery, -"that it could make you so happy to be kind to somebody else!" - - - - -CHAPTER VI--TROUBLE - - -It was the girls' intention at first to leave the hamper of good things -before the Haddons' door so that Mrs. Haddon would have no chance of -refusing the gift through pride. - -But when they came to the little cottage after half an hour of steady -walking, they found to their dismay that Fate had taken a hand and -spoiled all their plans. - -For Mrs. Haddon herself, a shawl over her head and looking even more -worried and anxious than she had when they had seen her before, rounded -the corner of the house and met them just as they reached the door. - -For a moment the girls had a panicky impulse to drop the basket and run, -but on second thought they decided that that would be just about the -worst thing they could possibly do. And while they were trying to think -up something to say, Mrs. Haddon took the whole situation entirely out -of their hands. - -At first she did not seem to recognize them, but the next instant her -face lighted up with relief and she opened the door of the cottage, -beckoning them to enter. - -"Just stay here in the kitchen a minute where it's warm," she directed -them in a strained tone, and before the girls had time to draw their -breath she had disappeared from the room, leaving the classmates alone. - -"Now we've gone and spilled the beans," whispered slangy Laura, eyeing -the blameless hamper disapprovingly as she warmed her chilled hands -before the stove. "I don't suppose she will touch a thing now, and after -we went and walked all this way, and everything, too----" - -"Sh-h," cautioned Billie, a hand to her lips. "She's coming back." - -At that moment Mrs. Haddon did indeed come back into the kitchen. She -closed the door very gently behind her and then came quickly toward the -girls. - -"Listen," she said breathlessly. "I don't know who sent you, just now. -Maybe it was God." She caught her breath on the words and the girls -regarded her wonderingly and a little fearfully. For goodness' sake! -_what_ was she talking about? - -"Anyway, you've come," went on the woman, swiftly. "And if you want to, -you can do me a great favor." - -"What is it?" they asked together. - -"Run for the nearest doctor, one of you--or all of you," said the woman, -her words stumbling over one another in her agitation. "Peter, my little -boy, is sick. If I don't have a doctor very soon, he may die." - -"Oh, where is the nearest doctor?" asked Billie, breathlessly, her eyes -big with sympathy. "Tell me and I'll go." - -"Half a mile down the road!" said the woman. "Dr. Ramsey! In the big -white house! These are his office hours. He should be at home. I just -went to a neighbor's, but she was not at home and I could not go myself. -Peter would have been alone----" - -"I'll go, and I'll have him back here in half an hour," promised Billie, -running to the door as she spoke. But Laura grabbed her skirt and held -on to it. - -"No, you stay here. I'll go," she said, thinking desperately of the food -hamper and fearing that if Billie went for the doctor she would probably -have to explain their mission. - -"I'll go with you," volunteered Vi, with the same thought in mind, and -before Billie could do more than blink, her two chums had flashed -through the door, closing it with a sharp little click behind them. Then -it opened again for an instant and Laura put her pretty head inside. - -"You always could explain things so much better than the rest of us, -Billie," she said, by way of excuse, it is to be supposed--and then the -door closed again. - -It was good for Billie at that moment that she had been blessed with a -sense of humor. Otherwise, she might have been a little put out. - -As it was, she took it as a joke on her and turned back resignedly to -her task of telling why they had come to proud Polly Haddon. - -The latter was pacing the floor anxiously. Then, as a little moan came -from the next room, she flew to the patient, leaving Billie entirely -alone. - -The latter regarded the hamper uncertainly for a moment, then, with a -sigh, she lifted it from the floor to the rickety kitchen table. - -"I'll let her see all the good things first," she decided wisely, as she -removed the cover from the basket, exposing to view its inviting -contents. "Then maybe she'll be too busy looking at them to be angry." - -So busy was she that she did not hear Mrs. Haddon reenter the room. -Neither did she know that the latter was staring unbelievingly over her -shoulder till a slight exclamation of wonder made her start and whirl -round suddenly. - -"Where did you get all that?" asked the woman, her eyes still fixed on -the contents of the basket. "And what is it for?" - -"It's--it's for you--if you will take it, please," stammered Billie, in -her surprise and confusion saying what came first to her mind. "We--we -thought maybe--maybe the kiddies would like the beef tea and milk -and--and--things----" she finished weakly, thinking resentfully that the -girls, or one of them anyway, might have stayed and helped her out. - -But after all, she need not have worried. For an instant the look that -Billie had expected and dreaded flared into Polly Haddon's eyes--a look -of outraged pride. But then the woman thought of the children--and she -had no pride. - -"You said you brought some beef tea?" she repeated, bending eagerly over -the basket. "And milk?" - -"Two quarts of milk," cried Billie, joyfully, the relief she felt -singing in her voice. "And we made the beef tea fresh this morning. -Why--why--what's the matter?" - -For Polly Haddon's black eyes had filled with tears and she had turned -away impatiently to hide them. Beneath the worn old shawl, her thin -shoulders shook in an effort to suppress her hysterical sobs. - -Then Billie ran to her and put her young arms around her and Polly -Haddon, who had struggled so long and so bravely alone, clung to the -girl hungrily while she fought for self-control. - -"It's so long!" she said huskily, "so long since any one did anything -for us--for my babies----" Her voice broke, and for a minute she just -clung to Billie and let tears wash some of the bitterness from her -heart. Then she straightened up suddenly, wiped the tears from her eyes -with a handkerchief that Billie had slipped into her hand, and holding -the girl off at arm's length regarded her intently. - -"It seems," said the woman softly, while Billie looked up at her out of -clear, grave eyes, "that when things get as bad as they can be the Lord -sends somebody to help. This time he sent you. Hark! What's that?" - -It was only the restless turning of a feverish little body in bed, but -the mother was instantly alert. - -"The beef tea!" she directed, and Billie quickly handed her one of the -bottles. "He has had hardly any real nourishment since day before -yesterday," Polly Haddon went on as she poured the liquid into one of -the pans on the stove and sniffed of it hungrily. "Strong beef tea is -just what the little fellow needs." - -Billie wondered while she watched Mrs. Haddon with pitying eyes. No -nourishment for almost two days! Why, if they had not come the children -might have starved to death! - -"Where are the two little girls?" she asked, remembering suddenly that -she had seen no sign of them. - -Mrs. Haddon said nothing for so long that Billie began to think she had -not heard her question. Then the woman turned and faced the girl, -holding a steaming cup of beef broth in her hand. - -"I've kept them in bed, too," she said. "I was afraid they had caught -cold, and then, too--one feels less hungry if one doesn't move about." - -Then abruptly she turned and once more left the room. Billie would have -followed, but the thought that perhaps Polly Haddon would not wish her -to held her back. The woman had accepted the food for her children's -sake, because they were practically starving. But in spite of that she -was very proud. Perhaps she would not wish to have Billie see the -poverty-stricken bareness of the rooms beyond. So Billie stayed in the -kitchen and waited. - -Her eyes strayed nervously to an alarm clock that ticked away on a shelf -over the sink. She wished the girls would come with the doctor. If -little Peter was as sick as his mother thought he was, every minute -might be precious. And besides that, they must get back to school. - -Then she heard the girls' voices mingled with the gruff tones of a -man--the doctor, of course--and her heart jumped with relief. The next -moment the door was flung open and Laura and Vi came in, followed by an -immense man who seemed to completely fill the narrow doorway. Then Polly -Haddon appeared in the doorway between the two rooms, an empty cup in -her hand. At sight of the doctor she set down the cup and motioned him -eagerly into the other room. - -The latter glanced curiously at Billie, flung his hat on the kitchen -table in passing, and disappeared with Mrs. Haddon into the sick room. - -"Just luck that we happened to catch the doctor on his way out," panted -Laura, for the big man had hustled the girls back to the cottage on a -run. "Say, Billie," she added, her eyes lighting on the opened hamper, -"I see you did the trick. Any bones broken?" - -"Tell us about it," begged Vi. - -"I'll tell you on the way home," said Billie, her eye once more on the -clock. "Miss Walters told us not to stay long, you know. We were to come -right back." - -"Gracious, look at the time!" cried Laura, in consternation, following -Billie's eyes to the clock. "Miss Walters will think we have eloped." - -"I wish we could wait and see what the doctor says," protested Vi, -hanging back, and just then Billie raised a warning finger. - -"Listen," she said. - -The doctor had raised his voice for a moment and his words came clearly -to the girls where they stood near the door. - -"The boy is very sick, Mrs. Haddon," he said. "It will take good nursing -to pull him through and plenty of nourishing food." He lowered his voice -again and the rest of what he said was lost in a meaningless murmur. - -In the kitchen the girls stared at each other. - -"Plenty of nourishing food," whispered Billie. "Where is he going to get -it?" - -"I guess," said Laura, as she opened the door, "it is up to us!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII--SETTLING A SCORE - - -The girls walked back to school in a rather thoughtful frame of mind. -They were sorry for poor Mrs. Haddon, and they were worried about little -Peter. - -"The sandwiches and milk and things that we brought this morning will -last them a little while," Billie said. "But I don't suppose Miss -Walters would want us to take them food every morning." - -"Oh, and that reminds me!" cried Laura. "You haven't told us yet what -happened after we ran for the doctor and left you alone with Mrs. -Haddon." - -"There isn't very much to tell," said Billie. "She didn't want to touch -the basket at first, but when she thought of the kiddies she changed her -mind. She said that the children hadn't had any real nourishing food -since the day before yesterday." - -The girls were silent for a moment, letting this last remark of Billie's -sink in. Then it was Billie who broke the silence. - -"I wonder," she said, "how they have ever managed to get along up to -this time. They must have had something to live on." - -"Why," said Vi, wrinkling her forehead thoughtfully, "the doctor said -something about Mrs. Haddon having to give up her work because of ill -health. Didn't he, Laura?" - -"Yes," said Laura, stuffing her hands deeper into her pockets. "He seems -dreadfully sorry about poor little Peter. I heard him mumble something -about troubles always coming in a heap." - -"Oh," said Billie, with a big long sigh, "if somebody could only stumble -across those inventions someway or other! Then we could all be happy -again." - -For a moment her classmates stared at Billie blankly. They had all but -forgotten about the invention. Somehow, Mrs. Haddon's tale of a nearly -won fortune had seemed unreal and vague to them--almost like a fairy -story. And now here was Billie bringing it all up again and even talking -about finding that knitting machine model! - -"If it doesn't always take you to think up impossible things, Billie -Bradley," said Vi. - -"Just the same," Laura spoke up unexpectedly, "you must admit that lots -of times Billie has done what we would think was impossible to do." - -"Goodness, have you got 'em, too?" asked Vi, with a giggle. "We all know -Billie's a wonder, but I don't think she is going to find an invention -that has been missing for a long time. Probably it wouldn't be any good, -anyway. All rusted and everything." - -"That wouldn't make any difference," Billie pointed out promptly. "As -long as they had the model to copy from they could make any number of -new machines just like it." - -"All right, rave on, Macduff!" cried Laura, who was just beginning to -read Shakespeare and who annoyed the other girls by insisting upon -quoting him--incorrectly--upon all occasions. "If you can find this old -thing and get a fortune out of it for Mrs. Haddon and the kiddies and -twenty thousand nice little dollars for yourself, honey, nobody'll be -gladder than me." - -"I," corrected Violet sternly. "Don't you know me is bad grammar?" - -"Well, me's a bad girl," said Laura irrepressibly, and the girls -giggled. - -A few minutes later they came within sight of the school and found to -their dismay that it was lunch hour. - -"Do you mean to say we have been gone all morning?" cried Laura, -stopping short at the familiar sight of the girls pouring out on the -campus for a breath of air before their studies should commence again. -"Goodness, Miss Walters will murder us." - -"Oh, come on," cried Billie, hurrying the girls along. "Haven't we been -on an errand of mercy--and everything? She can't kill us for that, even -if we were a long time about it." - -Greetings and laughing gibes were flung at the girls as they hurried -across the snow-covered campus, but they did not stop to answer. They -wanted to see Miss Walters, explain why they were so late, and get a -bite of something to eat before the afternoon classes began. - -They had almost reached the door when a voice called to Billie from -overhead. She looked up unsuspectingly and received an avalanche of snow -right in the face, almost blinding her and sending her staggering back -against her chums. - -Sputtering and choking, she dashed the snow from her eyes and looked up -to see who had done such a mean thing. There at a window just over her -head was the grinning face of Amanda Peabody. In a flash Billie realized -that it had been Amanda who had pushed the snow from the window ledge -upon her. - -"Want some more?" asked that disagreeable person in response to Billie's -stare. "There's just a little bit left," and she made a gesture as if to -push the rest of the snow from the windowsill down upon Billie's -upturned face. - -But Billie did not wait to see whether she would really have done it. -With a cry she made for the door of the school, pushing through a group -of the girls who had gathered at the first sign of a fracas. Laura and -Vi followed, fuming. - -As usual, instead of staying and facing the consequences of her own -deeds, Amanda tried to get away. But Billie was too quick for her. The -former reached the door of the room just as Amanda darted through it, -bent upon escape. - -Her eyes blazing, Billie seized the girl's arm and hurried her through -the hall, Laura and Vi assisting, and a delighted crowd following close -behind. - -"You let me go--you big cowards, you!" spluttered Amanda, almost crying -with rage and fright. "You let me go, Billie Bradley! I'll tell Miss -Walters." - -"Go ahead and tell Miss Walters, you miserable sneak!" cried Billie, -giving the girl a contemptuous shake. "But you won't tell her till I'm -through with you." - -"What are you going to do?" whined Amanda, too scared now even to -bluster. "I won't do it again, honest I won't. Only let me go." - -"Don't you do it, Billie," cried one of the girls in the following -crowd. "Don't let her off so easy." - -But Billie had no intention of letting her enemy off easily. Having now -reached the outside door, she shoved it open, at the same time motioning -to Vi and Laura to let go of Amanda. - -Then she dragged the whimpering, whining girl over to a spot where the -wind had formed the snow into a small drift. Into this she flung the -protesting girl, and the next instant was upon her, washing her face -with the snow, and it is safe to say that no girl ever had her face so -thoroughly washed before. And the crowd of girls behind Billie cheered -her on gleefully. - -There is no telling just how long Billie might have kept it up, for she -was enjoying herself immensely, if Laura had not brought her to her -senses. The latter leaned down, took a firm grip of the belt on Billie's -coat and jerked her to her feet. - -"Better let her go," she warned. "We will have Miss Walters or one of -the teachers out here in a minute. Come on, Billie. She's had enough." - -So Billie reluctantly stepped back while Amanda picked herself out of -the snow, wiped her red and dripping face on her sleeve, and pushed -through the laughing, mocking crowd of girls toward the school. - -She stopped just before she reached the door, however, and faced her -tormentors, her face distorted with rage. - -"You think you're smart, all of you!" she cried furiously, then added, -as her eyes fell on Billie, who had drawn a handkerchief from her pocket -and was wiping her hands carefully. "And you, Billie Bradley, standing -there grinning! Some day I'll make you grin out of the other side of -your mouth. Just wait!" - -"Would you like your face washed again?" Billie demanded, darting -forward threateningly. "Come on, let's get it over with----" - -But Amanda did not wait for the threat to be carried out. She scuttled -precipitately into the Hall amid delighted giggles from the girls. - -Amanda, fairly choking with rage at the laughter, stopped and shook her -fist in the direction of it. Then, with all sorts of plans in her heart -for "getting even," she went on toward the dormitory. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII--JUST LIKE BILLIE! - - -Several days followed during which the girls settled down earnestly to -their studies. For scholarship was held very high at Three Towers Hall, -and any one who did not stand well in class was apt to find herself not -only in ill favor with the teachers but with the students as well. - -The girls had reported to Miss Walters the result of their visit to -Polly Haddon, and the principal had seemed unusually interested and -sympathetic. - -"Now that you girls have taken the Haddon family under your wing," she -had said, smiling at the chums, "I think we shall have to see the thing -through--at least until the mother is strong enough to begin work again. -But in the meantime," she had added, with a nod of the head that meant -dismissal, "I don't want interest in the Haddon family to make my girls -neglect their studies. I expect great things of you this year." - -And so the girls, "feeling warm all over," as they always did after a -talk with Miss Walters, went back to their work, confident in the -thought that the Haddons would not be left to starve, at least. - -"Saturday we will go over ourselves and see how little Peter is," said -Billie, as, pencil in hand, she prepared to wade into a geometry -problem. "Listen, Laura," she added, looking up at her friend hopefully, -"if you will help me with this geometry I'll coach you in history. Is it -a go?" - -Laura declared it was a "go," and so they settled down to work. But no -amount of work could keep their thoughts from straying time and again to -the Haddon family and the mystery of the stolen invention. - -As the girls who have read the former adventures of Billie Bradley -already know, Billie and her chums had been admitted to the "Ghost -Club," a secret society to which only the most popular girls and those -who stood highest in their studies were admitted. - -The membership had never exceeded fifteen, for the girls knew that to -have too large a membership would only cheapen the club. Rose Belser was -the president of it, and Connie Danvers and several other of the girls' -good friends were members. Caroline Brant had been asked to join long -before, but had refused because she thought it would take too much time -from her studies. - -Last year's Commencement had taken two of the club's members, so that -now the girls were watching the freshmen for good material. They were -very careful in choosing, however, for it was far easier to get members -into the club than it was to get them out. - -The club was to have its first real meeting in two weeks, and it was at -that meeting that the names of prospective members were to be -tentatively submitted to the president. After that, a period of close -watching, and then--the fun of initiations. - -But first came news that ran through the Hall like wildfire. Some of the -boys from Boxton Military Academy were coming over to the big hill -behind the Three Towers Hall for the first real sledding of the year, -and they had invited as many of the girls as they knew--and their -friends--to meet them there. - -Chet and Teddy and Ferd were coming over, of course, and as the day -approached, anticipation grew accordingly until the girls could think -and talk of nothing but the fun they were going to have. - -"I wonder if Teddy will bring Paul Martinson with him," said Vi, after -trying vainly for half an hour to fix her mind on an essay she must hand -in the next morning. "He's ever so much fun, don't you think?" - -It was in Paul Martinson's motor boat, which he had named the _Shelling_ -in honor of Captain Shelling, who was master of the Military Academy, -that the boys had visited the girls on Lighthouse Island the summer -before. - -Paul Martinson was a splendid-looking, fine boy whom all the girls -liked--Rose Belser, in particular--but who, himself, seemed to prefer -Billie. Like Teddy, Paul thought that Billie was the "very best sport" -he knew, and declared that "a fellow can have more fun with her any day -than he can with another boy." - -Of course Teddy did not like this a bit. Having known Billie practically -all his life, he naturally felt that he should have first right to her. -And so there was a good-natured rivalry between the boys that amused -Billie and Vi and Laura and rather piqued Rose Belser and Connie Danvers -and some of the other girls at the school, who thought that Billie had -more than her share. - -"For," as Connie declared once to a sympathetic group of girls, "it's -ever so much more fun to be paddled around in a canoe by a boy than to -have to paddle yourself, and it's lots of fun to skate with them because -they fairly haul you along. And here when we haven't nearly enough to go -around, Billie goes and takes two of the nicest ones. She's a darling, -of course, but I think she might be content with one!" - -And so when Vi had happened to mention innocently that Paul was ever so -much fun, Rose Belser, who was preparing for a botany quiz at the other -end of the room, looked up and made a face at her. - -"How do we know whether he's any fun or not?" she said. "You had better -ask Billie." - -But Billie was too busy studying so that she might be free for the next -day's fun to hear, and Rose's shot was lost. - -As though autumn had regretted giving way to winter so soon, it had been -unexpectedly warm that day and the girls had worried for fear a thaw -might spoil their sledding. But a cold wind rose in the night and the -morning dawned clear and cold enough to suit even them. - -As soon as breakfast was over the coasters donned sweaters and caps and -mufflers and ran down into the storeroom next the gymnasium to get their -sleds. Then up once more and out into the bright morning sunshine, their -cheeks glowing with health and their eyes sparkling with anticipation of -the fun ahead of them! - -There were twenty-five of them in all, but as they filed out of the side -door of the school they looked like a small army. - -"Isn't it funny," giggled Laura to Billie, "how many more of the girls -turn out when they know the boys are going to be there?" - -"It's sad but true," admitted Billie, with an answering chuckle. "After -that first heavy snowfall when we said something about an all-girls' -sledding party, they didn't seem awfully anxious about it. Said it was -too early in the season and they hated dragging sleds up the hill." - -"Now I suppose they will expect the boys to do the dragging," laughed -Vi. - -When they had climbed almost to the top of the hill that made such a -fine toboggan they heard the sound of boys' voices. - -"Goodness, they must have started before breakfast," said Connie -Danvers, who was puffing with the effort to get her plump little body -and her heavy sled up the steep incline. "Say, give me a lift, will you, -Billie? This hill is so slippery." - -"You mean that you're getting too fat," said Laura wickedly, as she -reached over and grabbed Connie's line. "I told you you were eating too -much candy." - -Billie reached the top of the hill first and with dancing eyes she -looked down at the long, steep, ice-covered incline. The slight thaw of -the day before had been the one thing needed to perfect the sledding. -For the surface of the snow had melted, then frozen over again, forming -a solid coat of ice. - -As she took this all in gleefully, the first of the boys emerged from -the trees at the foot of the hill and an impish impulse seized her. - -With a shout of warning she pulled up her sled, flung herself upon it, -gave a little push, and was off! Down the hill she hurtled at a terrific -rate of speed, the glaze of ice forming almost no resistance to her -flight. - -Taken by surprise, the boys had no more than time to get out of the way -before she literally dropped among them. - -She swung off to the right, where an abrupt rise of ice-covered ground -checked her speed, and, after almost reaching the top of this small -hill, the back runners of the sled were caught in the ice and she was -tumbled head over heels, to land in an undignified heap at the boys' -feet. - -Then she sat up, rubbed her head and smiled at them gleefully. - -"I went some that time, didn't I?" she said. - -"Yes, and you might have broken your neck, too," said Teddy, in an -awfully gruff voice, as he took both her hands and pulled her to her -feet. The other boys were looking on in admiration at Billie's feat. -"Don't you know you should never have taken that turn to the right? That -hill's too steep." - -"I know it is--_now_," said Billie ruefully, feeling, for the first time -the horrible suspicion that she had skinned her knee. - -"You should have taken one of these paths," spoke up Chet, pushing his -way through the crowd of boys and regarding Billie sternly, as an older -brother should. "I thought you knew that." - -"Of course I know that," returned Billie, mimicking Chet's tone to -perfection. "But will you please tell me how I could take either one of -the paths when both of them were chock full of boys?" - -The paths about which they spoke branched off from the foot of the hill. -One had been an old wagon road which had become overgrown with bushes -and stubble and the other was only a foot path. Nevertheless, either one -was wide enough to permit easily a sled to pass through and the ground -was level for a long enough distance to allow the sleds to come to an -easy standstill. - -From the top of the hill the girls had been watching Billie's escapade, -and now as she started with the boys up the long slope they looked at -one another, smiling. - -"Goodness, there she goes again!" sighed Connie plaintively. "She isn't -satisfied with two of the boys any more. Now she has the whole crowd of -them!" - - - - -CHAPTER IX--INTO SPACE - - -For a glorious hour the girls and boys enjoyed what was to them the best -sledding of their lives. They coasted down the hill and dragged their -sleds up again, shouting and calling to each other while their cheeks -and, it must be admitted, sometimes their noses, too, glowed with the -sting of the sharp wind and they had to stamp hard on the frozen ground -to keep their toes from freezing. - -"The best sport ever!" cried Paul. - -"All to the merry," came from Chet. "What do you say, girls?" and he -turned to Billie and her classmates. - -What did they say? All shouted at once that such fine sport couldn't -possibly be beaten. - -"Can't be beat!" sang out Chet gaily. "Just like old Ma Jackson's rag -carpet." - -"Ma Jackson's rag carpet? What do you mean?" asked Laura. - -"She couldn't beat it for fear it would fall apart," was the sly reply. -And then the merry lad had to dodge a hard chunk of snow Laura threw at -him. - -"Burr-r! isn't it cold?" cried Billie, taking a mitten from one of her -hands and blowing on her numbed fingers. "I'd never know what it was to -feel cold if it weren't for my fingers and toes. Teddy! Stop your -pushing! What do you want now?" - -For Teddy had seized her by the shoulders and had sat her firmly down -upon his big bobsled. - -"You've let Paul Martinson take you down three times to my once," he -accused her, while he settled himself comfortably behind her on the -sled. "And now it's my turn. Hey, look out there, you fellows--we're -off!" - -And before the astonished Billie could do more than utter a giggling -protest, they were indeed "off," flying down the ice-glazed hill at a -rate that took her breath away. - -"Some speed, eh?" chortled Teddy in her ear. "This old boat of mine has -got 'em all beat. I bet we could race them all to a standstill." - -"Why don't we try?" Billie yelled back at him. "It would be lots of fun. -Oh, Teddy, look out!" she shrieked, for they had reached the foot of the -hill and Teddy had skimmed so close to the trunk of a tree that Billie -afterward declared they had scraped off a piece of bark. - -"Don't worry," Teddy said, reassuringly. "Nothing's going to happen to -you when you're with your uncle Ted." - -At which remark Billie could not help giggling to herself. "Boys did -think they were so awfully much!" Then suddenly she cried out: - -"Teddy, that's the wrong path! We have never been down it before." - -"That's why I'm trying it," said Teddy recklessly, as he swung down the -strange path that ran at right angles to the one they were on. "The -ground slopes, too, so we ought to have some more fun." - -Billie said nothing. She would not for the life of her have Teddy guess -that she was afraid. They had never been down that path before, because -never before had a sled had momentum enough to carry it that far. - -And the ground was sloping more and more and the sled was going faster -and faster with each second. The path was by no means straight, either, -and if Teddy had not been pretty good at keeping his head they would -most surely have run into something and have had a nasty spill. - -"Oh, Teddy, can't we stop?" asked Billie at last, unable to keep her -fright all to herself. "We don't know where this leads to. Can't you -stop, Teddy?" - -"Not very well," answered the boy uneasily. "We will surely run on to -level ground in a minute. Don't worry." - -But even as he spoke he jerked the sled around a sudden turn in the path -and they came, apparently, to the end of the world. With a nasty little -scraping sound the sled dived off into nothingness! - -It all happened so suddenly that Billie did not have even time enough to -scream. She had a sickening feeling of falling through space, and then -she struck something--something that yielded, luckily, under her weight, -and she sank, down, down, down, coming to rest at last in a world where -everything was white and slippery and cold--oh, _so_ cold. - -She must have lost consciousness for a minute, for when she came to -herself again in this strange new world she heard somebody calling her -name wildly and a moment later Santa Claus poked his head over a -snowbank and peered down at her. - -At least, she thought at first it was Santa Claus, because his face was -so very red and the snow was clinging to his fuzzy cap in such a funny -manner. - -But in a moment more she realized her mistake, for the red face and the -funny hat disappeared and in their place were shoved two legs that she -was very sure belonged to Teddy. And in a moment more Teddy himself slid -down beside her. - -"Hello," she greeted him with a smile. "I thought you were Santa Claus. -Why weren't you?" - -Teddy stared at her for a minute, anxiously. - -"I say," he cried, taking one of her hands and rubbing it gently. "I -guess that loop the loop of ours knocked you silly." - -"I'm always silly," was Billie's amazing reply, as she sat up and began -feeling herself all over carefully. "But it certainly did knock me!" - -"Are you all right?" demanded Teddy, watching her as she stretched out -first one leg and then the other. "You didn't break anything, did you?" - -"Nothing but my dignity," she answered, with a giggle that brought an -answering grin from the boy. "Teddy," she demanded, turning to him -suddenly, "what did happen, anyway?" - -"I'm sure I don't know, except that we came to the end of that path and -jumped off," answered Teddy, feeling gingerly of his forehead on which -Billie could see that a large purple lump was beginning to swell. "If I -had had a chance to see what was coming I could have rolled off the sled -and pulled you with me. But that turn in the road brought us right on -top of it. It's a sort of precipice, I guess," he went on to explain, -while Billie eyed with sympathy the swelling lump on his forehead. "It's -about fifteen feet high, I think, and if there hadn't been snow on the -ground we surely would have got hurt." - -"If there hadn't been snow on the ground, we wouldn't have been -sledding," Billie pointed out, adding, so unexpectedly as to make Teddy -jump: "Who hit you?" - -"Wh--what?" he gasped. Then seeing that her eyes were fixed on the bump -that he was still fingering gingerly, Teddy's face grew redder than it -already was, if such a thing were possible, and his hand fell quickly to -his side. "Oh, that!" he said, loftily, as if it were nothing at all. "I -guess the runner of the sled gave me a whack just as we dumped over. It -doesn't hurt, though. Not a bit." - -"I bet it does, too," said Billie, as the boy pulled his cap down tight -over the tell-tale spot. "Where is the sled, Teddy?" she added. - -"Out there, somewhere, sticking in a drift," answered the boy. "I didn't -have time to pull it out because I thought you had been killed or -something and I had to come to look for you." - -"Thanks," she laughed at him. Then her face became suddenly serious, and -she struggled to her feet, trying to brush off the snow that seemed to -cover her from head to foot. "How are we going to get out of this, -Teddy?" she asked, looking at him seriously. - -"Ask me an easy one," he returned, his good-looking face extremely -anxious and puzzled. "The snow is awfully deep, and I don't believe we -could ever get up to that path again. It would take us a couple of hours -to go around, and besides, I'm not sure just how to go." - -"In other words," said Billie, trying her best to speak gayly while her -heart sank at this unusually long speech of Teddy's, "we're lost, aren't -we?" - -"I guess it amounts to that," Teddy answered soberly, and for a long -minute they just stood staring at each other. - -Then Billie gave herself an impatient little shake. - -"Help me out of this," she said, as she tried to push through the heavy -snow that seemed to press in upon her from every side. "I'd like to have -a look around, anyway." - -She found that even with Teddy's help it was no easy task to clamber out -of the snowdrift that she had fallen into, and both she and the boy were -panting with exertion when they had finally managed to get out into the -open. - -Even there they stood up to their waists in the clinging snow, and -Billie, looking desolately out over the white expanse, began to realize -that she was very, very cold. - -"There's the sled," said Teddy, pointing to two runners sticking out of -the snow and marking the spot where the sled had struck. "Wait here and -I'll get it." - -Billie watched him as he struggled through the drifts, and suddenly she -was aware of an overwhelming desire to sit down where she was and cry. - -"But that wouldn't do any good," she told herself sharply, "even if this -place does look more lonely than a desert. If we don't get where it's -warm pretty soon we'll turn into icicles ourselves, I guess." - -The wind had become stronger and more biting, and Billie's teeth had -begun to chatter. She was glad when Teddy floundered back to her, the -rope of his sled looped over one arm. He slipped the other arm through -hers protectingly. - -"We'll find a way out of this soon," he said, comfortingly. "You just -watch your uncle Teddy." - -Billie tried to laugh but she could not, her teeth were chattering so. - -"You said that before," she told him hysterically. "And we--we--went -over the cliff!" - - - - -CHAPTER X--THE CAVE - - -The next minute Billie was sorry for what she had said. Teddy's face -clouded over and he looked at her unhappily. - -"You ought to know that I didn't get you into this on purpose," he -muttered. - -"Oh, Teddy, d-dear, I didn't mean it, you know I d-didn't," she -stammered, trying hard to control the chattering of her teeth. "I'm a -bad, mean, horrid girl. T-truly I didn't mean it," and she put her cold -little hand penitently over his great big one. - -"I know you didn't," said Teddy, his face clearing instantly. "You're -cold and tired and all upset. Poor little kid, I wish I could do all the -_feeling_." - -"Well, I'm glad you can't," said Billie, snuggling up close to him for -warmth. "For you have troubles enough of your own. Teddy!" She drew up -suddenly and stared at an object that caught her eye. "What is that -thing over there that looks like a tangle of twigs and leaves? No, not -that way. Over there--to the left." - -Teddy followed the direction of her pointing finger and his face lighted -up with excitement. The "tangle of twigs and branches," as Billie had -described it, was close to the side of the fifteen-foot "precipice" over -which he and Billie had plunged a little while before. - -The fact that the branches were not covered with snow certainly looked -as if they had been put there rather recently in a crude effort to hide -the entrance to something--perhaps a cave. - -"That's worth having a look at," he said, jerking the sled up to him and -tightening his hold on Billie's arm. "Can you make it, Billie? The snow -seems to be deeper over this way." - -"Oh, I can make it all right," answered Billie, stoutly, as she clenched -her teeth and shut her eyes and floundered on through the clinging snow. -"I guess I've got to make it!" she added, to herself. - -They had almost reached their goal when suddenly they stepped into a -hole hidden by the snow and sank down in the icy whiteness until Billie -was almost up to her neck. - -"Gosh," cried Teddy, as he struggled out to higher ground, pulling his -thoroughly frightened companion after him, "I hope there aren't many -more places like that around here. We'll make it all right, Billie. Say! -you're not crying, are you?" he broke off, with a boy's utter terror of -tears, as Billie dug two mittened and numbed hands into her smarting -eyes. - -"No, I'm not crying," she answered, giving him a rather watery smile. -"I'm laughing. Can't you see I am?" - -"Poor little kid," said Teddy for the second time that afternoon, and -the sympathy in his voice pretty nearly did send Billie into a downpour -of tears. She was so thoroughly miserable that it was all she could do -to keep from wailing her grief aloud. But Teddy had put one big -protecting arm around her now and was half carrying her over to that -strange object that looked so dark against the gleaming bank of snow. - -Then he let Billie go, and while she shivered by herself he laid hold of -the branches and pulled with all his might. - -"Ooh, look out!" called Billie. "There might be a bomb or something at -the other end. Oh-h!" The queer doorway gave so easily before the boy's -strength that he was sent staggering back against the snowdrift and sat -down in it most uncomfortably. - -The next minute he was up again, had swept the branches and twigs aside, -and was examining the exposed opening with all a boy's eager curiosity. -Billie peered eagerly over his shoulder. - -"What is it?" she asked, breathlessly. - -"It's what I thought it was--a cave," answered Teddy, joyfully. "Come -inside, Billie. It will get you out of the wind anyway, and give you a -chance to warm up." He had put an arm about her again and was pushing -her forward with his usual impetuosity, but Billie hung back. - -"We don't know what's in there," she protested, but Teddy refused to -listen to her. - -"We don't know and we don't care," he informed her, masterfully, adding -as she still hung back: "We'll freeze to death out there, anyway." - -"But, Ted, suppose some wild animal should be in there? You know that -bears hide in hollow trees and caves----" - -"Bears sleep most of the winter. Besides, I don't think there are any -bears around here." - -"But there might be a--a fox, or a wildcat." - -"I'll take a chance on that. You must remember, the average wild beast -will get out of your way if you give it half a chance. Come on. As I -said before, if you stay out here, in this icy wind, you'll surely -freeze to death." - -This argument appealed to her, and, with a shivering look over her -shoulder at the desert of whiteness behind, she stepped gingerly into -the blackness of the cave. - -Then with a little nervous giggle she ran back again, got behind Teddy -and pushed him before her. - -"Gentlemen first!" she said. "Anyway you're bigger than I am, Ted." - -So Teddy, feeling as important as a boy always feels when he is -protecting a girl that he likes, walked boldly into the cave, stretching -a hand behind him for Billie to cling to. - -"Come on, it's all right," he assured her. "You'll get used to the -darkness in a minute. The snow blinds you. Ouch! What was that?" - -Billie gave a little choked scream and would have run out into the open -again, had not Teddy's grip on her hand prevented. - -"Don't get scared," the boy said, and bent over to examine whatever it -was he had stubbed his toe against. "I didn't mean to yell like that, -but, gosh, that thing did give my toe an awful wallop! I say, look at -this!" and he held up an object that shone wanly white against the -blackness of the cave. - -Billie, whose eyes had become a little accustomed to the darkness, saw -that what Teddy held looked like an old, broken water pitcher. - -"A pitcher," she said, adding disgustedly: "And that was what I was -afraid of." - -At the entrance, this queer hole in the mountain had been so low that -the two had been forced to stoop down to avoid knocking their heads on -the roof of it. But now, as they felt their way cautiously, they found -to their surprise that they could stand upright. The walls also seemed -to have widened out and they realized with a thrill of excitement that -they were in a real cave, dug into the side of the mountain. - -In here it was darker than it had been at the entrance, and they had to -feel their way about cautiously to avoid colliding with each other or -the walls of the cave. - -It was surprisingly warm and snug in there also, for the thick snow -wrapped them in the warmest and fleeciest of blankets, and the only -place for old Jack Frost to come in was the narrow entrance of the cave. - -And once assured that the owner of the cave, whether man or animal, was -at that moment not at home, Billie began to feel a sense of exquisite -comfort. Her teeth had ceased to chatter, they were safe from the bitter -north wind, and she had Teddy to take care of her. What more could any -girl want? - -As for Teddy, he had evidently found something over in one corner of the -cave that interested him immensely. He had stumbled by accident over -what seemed to be a pile of old junk, and now he was down on his hands -and knees trying to satisfy his curiosity by the sense of touch. - -"Now aren't I the idiot!" he exclaimed suddenly, and Billie started at -the sudden sound of his voice in the darkness. "Here I go feeling around -like a blind man when I have some perfectly good matches in my pocket. -Come on over, Billie, and see what I've found." - -Guided by the flare of a match, Billie made her way across the cave and -kneeled down beside the boy. Then they both stared in utter amazement at -what they saw. - -Heaped up carelessly in the corner was a mass of so many and such -queerly assorted articles that it is no wonder the boy and girl were -puzzled. - -There was an old alarm clock, rusty with age and disuse, a mirror, -several gaudy articles of jewelry that looked as if they might have been -found in ten-cent prize packages, a telephone receiver, a broken fishing -rod that stood lamely against the wall as though ashamed of its own -decrepit state, a sawdust doll, an empty tin can that evidently had once -contained bait, a talcum powder box full of scented violet talc--Billie -smelled it--and--but it would take too long to name all the strange -things that Billie and Teddy found there in the corner of the funny -little cave. - -"Teddy," murmured Billie as the boy's match burnt out and he struck -another one, "what do you think these things are for? Who do you suppose -owns them?" - -"How should I know?" asked Teddy, getting to his feet and looking -eagerly about the place, illumined fitfully by the flare of the match. -"Somebody comes here often, that's a sure thing. And judging by those -things," he waved toward the conglomeration of junk in the corner, "he -must be pretty simple." - -"Oh, Teddy!" breathed Billie, moving closer to him. "Suppose he should -come and find us here?" - -Teddy looked down at her with a grin. - -"Why worry?" he asked. "Haven't you got your Uncle Ted?" - -He had scarcely spoken when there came a terrifying sound. It was a -snarl of rage, half-animal, half-human. - -The half-burned match dropped from Teddy's fingers. They were in the -dark. - - - - -CHAPTER XI--THE SIMPLETON - - -Billie did not cry out. She was either too frightened or too brave. But -the next minute Teddy's arm had reached out and caught her to him -reassuringly. - -"It's all right," he whispered in her ear. "Just hold tight and keep -still. I'll do the talking." - -Cautiously he drew her to the back of the cave, and there they turned -and waited for whatever was to happen. They did not have to wait long. - -Some one or something was coming into the cave. There was a growling and -muttering in the tunnel-like entrance and the sounds increased as the -intruder came slowly nearer. - -Then there came a stumbling sound, followed by a coarse oath that made -Billie clap her hands to her ears. - -"It's a man, anyway," Teddy whispered, adding maliciously: "Stubbed his -toe on that old pitcher, I guess. Glad of it." - -"Oh, Teddy, hush," whispered Billie frantically. "He'll hear you." - -Evidently the intruder had heard them. He stopped short as though -listening. Billie and Teddy could distinctly hear his heavy breathing -while they held their own. - -Then a hoarse, strident voice challenged them. - -"Who are ye?" it cried, menacingly. "Whoever y'are ye've got to git out. -I'll teach ye to go breakin' into my cave and meddlin' with my things. -Come out o'thet, will ye?" - -For answer, Teddy lighted a match, holding it high above his head while -he studied the intruder. The latter, evidently startled by the sudden -light, staggered back a little and flung his hand before his eyes. - -The advantage was all Teddy's, and for a moment it looked as though he -would fling himself upon the little man who stood cowering there. But he -hesitated, and while he hesitated the match burned out in his fingers -and they were left in the dark once more. - -"Light another match, Teddy--quick," whispered Billie, and he did. - -This time the man lowered his hands from before his eyes and stood -blinking at them foolishly. He was so small and so slight and so puny -looking in every way that the gruff voice with which he had greeted them -in the beginning seemed little short of ridiculous. - -And while they stared at the little man and the little man stared at -them, Teddy's third match went out. - -"Gosh," said he, groping in his pocket for another. "I only hope they -hold out, that's all. I'd hate to be left in the dark." - -He found a match and lit it rather shakily, for the whole thing was -beginning to get on his nerves. And as the uncertain light flared out -once more he saw that their queer new friend was holding something out -to him. - -"Don't touch it," whispered Billie at his elbow. "It might be----" - -"But it's only a candle, Billie, and----" Teddy was beginning when the -little fellow himself interrupted impatiently. - -"Light it, light it," he commanded, glancing nervously over his shoulder -into the spooky corners of the cave. "Your match will be burnt out and -we will be left in the dark. The dark. I'm afraid of the dark. Hurry, -hurry!" - -To Teddy and Billie at the same instant came the startling thought that -the man was a lunatic. His looks, his voice, his manner, were all proof -of it. - -And while Teddy lighted the candle with his one remaining match, Billie -began to shiver wretchedly. If only they had not found the old cave -everything would have been all right. They might even have been home by -this time. For the moment she had forgotten how cold it was outside and -that neither she nor Teddy knew the way home. - -While Teddy glanced about for some place to set the lighted candle, she -furtively studied the simpleton, into whose hiding-place they had been -unlucky enough to stumble. - -He was about twenty-one, she guessed, scarcely more than a boy. His -features were as small as his body, his eyes little and red-rimmed and -shifty, with an expression of vacancy that made Billie's blood run cold. -His hair, as nearly as she could tell in the flickering light, was red. - -And while Billie watched him, he watched Teddy, and she was surprised to -see his vacant eyes suddenly fill with terror. Then, when Teddy turned -back, after setting the candle on a projecting piece of rock, the -simpleton came close to him, holding out shaking, imploring hands. - -"Have you come to take me away? Have you?" he asked wildly, and then as -Teddy still continued to stare at him, he fell to the ground, groveling -in the dirt at the boy's feet. - -It was not a pretty sight, and with a little exclamation of disgust, -Teddy reached down, gripped the fellow's collar and jerked him to his -feet. - -"For heaven's sake, get up," he cried. "What's the matter with you, -anyway? I'm not going to hurt you." - -"You haven't come to take me away? You won't put me in prison?" whined -the simpleton, shaking and trembling there before them till Billie put -her hands before her eyes to shut out the sight of him. "I haven't done -anything! Truly I haven't! Don't put me in prison. Oh, I'm afraid of the -dark. I'm afraid of the dark!" - -There is no telling how much longer he might have gone on in that manner -had not Teddy put a hand over his mouth and shaken him into silence. -Billie, cowering back against the wall, had begun to cry. - -"Now," growled Teddy, giving one extra shake to the whining wretch, -"suppose you keep still for a minute and try to understand what I am -going to tell you. We didn't come into your cave to get you, and we're -not going to hurt you if you will do what we tell you. We're lost, and -we want to get back to Three Towers Hall. Do you suppose you can tell us -how?" - -The simpleton, relieved of his suspicion that they had come to do him -harm, became suddenly sullen. Teddy had to repeat his question before -the fellow answered. - -"I can," he said then, "if I want to." - -Teddy was about to answer angrily, but he remembered that he had heard -somewhere that the only way you can get anything out of a weak-minded -person is to humor him. - -So he controlled his temper and said that he hoped very much that the -fellow would want to--and the sooner the better, or words to that -effect. - -"What's your name?" asked Billie suddenly. It was the first time she had -spoken, and both Teddy and the simpleton started. The latter stared at -her a moment open-mouthed, and then his manner underwent a bewildering -change--became softer, more normal. Evidently he had not noticed before -that she was a girl, for she had been nearly hidden behind Teddy. - -"What's your name?" asked Billie again. - -"Nick Budd, ma'am," answered the fellow, never taking his eyes from -Billie's pretty face. "Son of Tim Budd, the gardener up at Three Towers -Hall." - -"Oh!" cried Billie delightedly, while Teddy himself felt immensely -relieved. "Then you will show us the way home, won't you? We'll be ever -so much obliged to you." - -"Yes'm," said the poor simpleton, shuffling his feet as though -embarrassed. "I'll show you right away. But there's a powerful lot o' -snow between us and the Hall," he added, as he turned to leave the cave. - -Teddy started to take the candle to light them out, but the simpleton, -as though he had eyes in the back of his head, turned upon Teddy -furiously. - -"You let thet candle be," he cried to the astonished boy, while Billie -shrank back in fresh alarm. "You let thet candle be, I tell you! It's my -candle, ain't it?" - -"Whew!" whistled Teddy, feeling a wild desire to shout, yet afraid to do -it for fear of angering still more this poor idiot. "Yes, it's your -candle, old man. Be sure you take good care of it. It's very precious." - -The simpleton stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then turned his -back and led the way out of the cave. - -"Oh, Teddy, I'm scared to death," whispered Billie, as the boy grabbed -tight hold of her hand and started to follow Nick Budd. - -"You needn't be," he whispered back to her. "I could clean up that -little shrimp with one finger." Which observation, though extremely -slangy, was very comforting to Billie. - -They found the sled outside where Teddy had dropped it when they entered -the cave, and then there began a long, hard struggle with the snow and -the wind that the boy and girl were to remember long afterward. - -They did not talk much, for they were too busy trying to keep up with -Nick Budd as he floundered through the snow, and breath was precious. -However, Billie did find a chance to ask the question that had been -looming bigger and bigger with each second. - -"Teddy, what do you suppose the boys and girls will think of our -disappearing like that?" she asked him. - -"I suppose they'll think we went off in an aeroplane or something," he -answered, trying to be funny and not succeeding very well. - -"Well," sighed Billie, "I only hope they won't go and say anything about -it at school--not till we get back and have a chance to explain, -anyway." - -Teddy glanced at her quickly. - -"Nobody would be mean enough to do that," he said, decidedly. - -"No-o, I guess not," agreed Billie, but in her heart she was not at all -sure. She was thinking of Amanda Peabody. - - - - -CHAPTER XII--THE ACCUSATION - - -Nick Budd, plunging on in the snow ahead of the young folks, hardly once -turned his head to look back. Evidently he had made this trip often and -was used to wading through snow half-way to his waist, for he went so -swiftly that Teddy was winded and Billie pretty nearly worn out when -they at last reached the road. - -Oh, but what a relief it was to step out on its hard, crusty firmness -after the yielding depth of the snow in the field! - -Then Nick Budd turned and addressed them for the first time since they -had left the cave behind them. - -"This here is the road thet leads to Three Towers," he told them, -evidently in a sullen mood again. "Jest foller straight and ye'll git -thar." And before either Teddy or Billie had a chance to thank him he -turned back without another word and started to retrace his steps -through the heavy snow, leaving the two standing in the middle of the -road staring after him. - -Then Billie turned wonderingly to the boy. - -"Teddy, isn't he the queerest thing?" she breathed. - -Teddy nodded. - -"He sure is," he said, soberly, adding slowly: "I'm just wondering what -made him so afraid that we were going to put him in prison. He was -scared almost to death until we told him why we had come." - -"But he's a simpleton," Billie pointed out. "Poor thing, I don't suppose -you could count on anything he says or does. People who aren't 'all -there' have moods, don't they?" - -"Is that why you act so funny sometimes?" asked Teddy with a grin, and -Billie pouted most becomingly. - -"I think you're horrid," she said, while Teddy's grin became still -wider. "Come on, let's get back. I'm freezing to death. Don't stand -there grinning like an ape," she commanded, with an impatient stamp of -her foot. "You look silly." - -"Like Nick Budd?" asked Teddy good-naturedly, and Billie had to smile. -"Look here," he added, jerking the sled toward him and motioning to -Billie to sit on it. "We can get back much more quickly if you let me -pull you. Get aboard, Miss Billie, and I'll give you a regular -sleighride." - -"Oh fine!" cried Billie, as she settled herself comfortably on the big -sled. "Only I'm 'fraid its rather a long pull, Teddy. You may get -tired." - -"Just watch me!" cried the boy, and galloped off at a great rate, the -sled, with Billie clinging wildly to it, bumping and swaying over the -hard and rough road. - -Meantime the other boys and girls had been considerably alarmed by -Teddy's and Billie's abrupt disappearance. At first they had supposed -that the two were simply playing a trick on them and would appear when -they got good and ready. - -But as time passed and nothing happened they became worried, and even -began to talk about a search party. - -"Though how they could have got lost, I don't know," Laura had said to -an agitated group. "They certainly know their way about here well -enough." - -"Perhaps they got lost on purpose," said a nasal voice, and Billie's -chums turned indignantly to face the speaker. It was Amanda, of course, -and beside her, so close as to have earned her the title of Amanda's -"Shadow," stood her friend and crony, Eliza Dilks. - -Laura was about to retort furiously when Billie's brother Chet pushed -her aside and faced Amanda. - -"If you were a boy, I'd know what to do to you for saying a thing like -that," cried the boy, such fury in his face that Amanda was frightened. -"But since you're a girl I'll just tell you to lay off that line of -talk. Billie Bradley is my sister." As Chet said the last words proudly -there was many a girl present who would have been glad to own a brother -as loyal as Chet Bradley. - -As Amanda muttered something to herself and turned away angrily the boys -and girls returned to the discussion of Billie's and Teddy's mysterious -absence. - -"I think," suggested Paul Martinson, his face looking extremely worried, -"that we had better search through the woods thoroughly in case they are -lost. Something must have happened to them to keep them away this long." - -He had no sooner made the suggestion than it was carried into effect, -and the girls and boys scattered through the woods in search of the two -who had disappeared. - -They returned in a little while, however, dispirited and more anxious -than ever. There was an attempt to go on with the fun in the hope that -Teddy and Billie would return in a little while to laugh at their fears, -but it was no use. The fun lagged, and finally the girls broke up the -party altogether by declaring their intention of going back to the -school. - -"Billie may be at the Hall now for all we know," Connie said hopefully, -as they started back along the road. "She may have been cold or -something and asked Teddy to take her home." - -"Humph," sniffed Laura, "that sounds a lot like Billie." - -Nevertheless they did hope that, foolish as it sounded, Billie had -returned to the Hall before them. But when they reached there and found -no sign of either her or Teddy they were puzzled and more worried than -ever. - -The boys had gone on toward the Academy, and there was not one of them -who was not disturbed in his mind. Teddy was as popular at the Academy -as Billie was at the Hall, and, besides, Billie was a general favorite -with all the lads. - -"I'll wait a little while after I get back," Chet told them as they -tramped back silently, their sleds skidding along behind them, "and then -I'll call up the Hall. If Billie isn't back by then we'll have to notify -the police--or something." - -And at the Hall her classmates had decided to wait a little while also -before they reported Billie's disappearance to Miss Walters. - -Probably nothing serious had happened, they argued, and if Miss Walters -were notified Billie might have a lot of explaining to do that otherwise -she would be saved. - -But as the minutes sped by and still no sign of Billie, they fidgeted -and squirmed and could set their minds to nothing. - -Then suddenly Connie Danvers rushed into the dormitory, her eyes blazing -with wrath. - -"What do you suppose?" she cried, while the girls gathered round her. "I -met Caroline Brant in the hall just now and she said that Amanda and the -'Shadow' were spreading the report that Billie and Teddy ran away on -purpose." - -"Oh, the sneak! The wretched little sneak!" cried Laura, making a dash -for the door. But she stopped suddenly and ran back to Connie. "Has she -gone to Miss Walters with that report?" she asked, her hands working as -though she longed to get hold of Amanda. - -"I don't think so," replied Connie. "She hasn't had time yet--Laura! -where are you going?" for Laura had started for the door again. - -"To find Amanda, of course," Laura cried over her shoulder, as she flung -out of the room. "I'll see that she doesn't get to Miss Walters with -that report." - -"She has the right idea, girls," said Vi excitedly. "We mustn't let -Amanda say such things about Billie. Why, if Miss Walters heard it, it -would be dreadful." - -"Come on then," said Connie, adding recklessly: "We'll see that Amanda -doesn't squeal if we have to gag her." - -They found Amanda and her "Shadow" haranguing a group of the younger -girls at the end of the hall on the first floor. Billie's champions, -coming upon the group suddenly, overheard the last of Amanda's speech. - -"Of course her friends say that she didn't do it on purpose," the girl -was saying. "But I know she did, and I'm going straight to Miss Walters -and tell her about it." - -Laura started toward the sneak, but she drew back so suddenly as nearly -to lose her balance and had to be steadied by the girls behind her. - -For a familiar figure, hidden until that moment by the shadows about the -great entrance door, suddenly swung into the light and faced Amanda. - -"Now, what you have said behind my back," rang out a clear voice, "you -can tell me to my face!" - -"It's Billie," gasped Laura, in joyful relief. "Say, but she looks good -to me." - -"Come on. I have a notion she may need a little help," said Connie, as -she made her way to Billie's side, causing the freshmen who had been -Amanda's audience to scatter in panic. Laura and Vi and several others -followed, but Billie did not seem to notice them. - -Her eyes were still upon Amanda. The latter, taken by surprise, at first -looked about her for some means of escape. Then, seeing that she was -cornered, she straightened up defiantly and the usual sneer overspread -her mean features. - -"Oh, all right," she said. "I'm not afraid to tell the truth if _you -are_. Did you and Teddy Jordon have a good time when you ran away -to-day?" - -"It's false!" cried Billie furiously. "And I'll make you take it back!" - -"What's this? What's this?" interrupted a cool voice behind them, and -Billie turned with tears of rage in her eyes to face Miss Arbuckle. - -"Miss Arbuckle," she pleaded tensely, "make her take it back--what she -said about me. It isn't true! Oh, it isn't true!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIII--BILLIE IS CHOSEN - - -Miss Arbuckle laid a kindly hand on Billie's shoulder and looked at -Amanda inquiringly. The latter was smiling triumphantly. Billie had done -what she had hoped she would do. She, Amanda, would tell what in her -mean little mind she really thought was the truth, and get Billie in bad -with the powers-that-be. - -"What is this that you are telling about Beatrice, Amanda?" asked Miss -Arbuckle, adding, impatient of Amanda's grin: "Be quick about it." - -"She and Teddy Jordon ran off together to-day and were gone for about -three hours," she said triumphantly. "Billie just came in." - -Billie's eyes, black in her white, set face, looked up at Miss Arbuckle -steadily. - -"I didn't do it, Miss Arbuckle," she said, her lip quivering. "I--I -couldn't." - -"I know you couldn't, Billie Bradley," said Miss Arbuckle, so -unexpectedly that Amanda's mouth dropped open from sheer surprise. -"There must be some mistake." - -"But they were away together for three hours," Amanda repeated, angry at -having this tempting morsel of revenge snatched away from her at the -last minute. "I know it." - -"That will do, Amanda," said Miss Arbuckle sternly. "You have been -guilty several times of starting stories about the girls that have had -absolutely no foundation in truth. And I warn you that if you are caught -again in this mischief it may mean serious trouble for you. - -"You say," she added turning soberly to Billie, "that you and Teddy -Jordon did _not_ leave the other boys and girls this morning?" - -"Oh, yes, we did," said Billie, so eager to explain that her words -tripped all over themselves. "Only we didn't do it on purpose." - -Miss Arbuckle looked grave and Amanda's triumphant leer returned. - -"Please let me explain----" began poor Billie, but the teacher -interrupted her. - -"Yes, I want you to," she said. "Only not just now. Come to me to-morrow -morning at nine, Billie. And I want you to be there also, Amanda. In the -meantime," she added to the latter, "you will make no mention of this -affair in any way. Do you understand?" - -Amanda nodded sullenly and at Miss Arbuckle's command the small group of -girls that had gathered dispersed to their various dormitories, talking -excitedly of what had happened. - -Billie was too tired and cold and worn out with conflicting emotions to -talk much at first. But under the tireless cross-questioning of the -girls she gradually began to give them the story of her remarkable -adventure. - -They were very much excited about Nick Budd and the cave, and declared -that they must visit it and Billie must show them the way. - -But Billie, who was comfortably stretched out on her bed with Vi rubbing -one half-frozen hand and Laura the other, absolutely denied that she -would do anything of the sort. - -"It sounds very interesting now," she said. "But I tell you I was scared -to death while it lasted. I wouldn't go back to that place for a million -dollars. Oh, girls," she added, stretching luxuriously, "you don't know -how heavenly it feels just to be where it's warm." - -"Didn't Teddy keep you warm?" asked Rose Belser, wickedly, but just then -the door opened and Amanda came into the room. Needless to say, Billie -did not answer the question. - -Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning Billie went to Miss Arbuckle -and told her the story of the yesterday's adventure just as it had -happened, and Miss Arbuckle, to Amanda's immense disgust, believed her. -A little talk by the teacher on the wisdom of taking fewer chances in -the future ended the interview to which Billie had been looking forward -with not a little dread. And Amanda found herself once more facing the -problem of how "to get even with Billie Bradley." - -The girls talked and wondered about the queer little cave and simple -Nick Budd, but as the days went on and they were whirled into a -veritable maelstrom of quizzes and examinations, they gradually forgot -the incident. - -It seemed that the school work was to be unusually interesting that -year. There were the usual number of essays to be written, and for one -Miss Walters had offered a prize to the girl turning in the best work. - -The title of the essay was "The World's Greatest Generals," and any girl -in the school was entitled to try for it. There were other prizes -offered, too, but Billie, whose mark in English was usually the highest -in her class, thought that she would try for the composition prize. - -Laura and Connie and Rose Belser were going to enter the lists with her, -but Vi and Nellie Bane decided to try for the highest mark in geometry. - -"Working for a prize makes the work seem more like a game," said Connie -as she happily looked up her "greatest generals." "I'm as excited as if -I were going to a party." - -"Well, you'd better not get too excited," advised Vi, pulling a lock of -her hair absently in order to solve a particularly steep problem in her -beloved geometry. "Billie is sure to come off with the essay prize." - -"Oh, she is, is she?" spoke up Rose, who had set her heart on the essay -prize herself and who could never quite stifle her former jealousy of -Billie. "Well, maybe she is, but I'm going to give her a run for her -money just the same." - -"Good!" cried Billie, looking up from her book and smiling sunnily at -Rose. "That's the kind of game I like to play." - -"And how about us?" said Laura, smiling ruefully over at fluffy-haired -Connie. "We don't seem to be in this at all." - -Besides their studies, the girls had the Ghost Club to think about and -the importance of initiating new members. They had decided upon two of -the freshmen for the honor, one, a fair-haired intelligent girl named -Ann Fleming and the second a laughing imp of a girl with red hair and -red-brown eyes who bore the name of Ada Slope. - -Both girls stood well in their studies and showed a remarkable -popularity among their classmates considering the short time they had -been at the Hall. - -And of course they were overwhelmed with joy when Billie drew them aside -one day and ordered them to be in the gymnasium at not later than nine -o'clock that night. - -They were there before nine, shivering in the darkness of the big -gymnasium and wishing that this fearful business of being initiated were -over and done with. - -A few minutes later the "ghosts" arrived and put the girls through a -series of trials that tested their courage and endurance to the limit. - -They were made to "walk the plank" blindfolded; they were prepared for -"branding with a red-hot poker" and then touched with a lump of ice that -made them cry out in imagined pain; they were handed all sorts of slimy -things, harmless in themselves but terrifying to the overstrained nerves -of the girls. - -But they came out of the test with flying colors, and the members of the -club were well satisfied with their choice. - -"And now," said Rose Belser--who was still president of the club--as the -handkerchiefs were removed from the eyes of the new members, "we are -about to put to the test a new rule suggested by a fellow ghost." - -The girls held their breath, for the announcement was a surprise to all -but Billie, who had herself made the suggestion. - -"It occurred to this fellow-member of our illustrious club," Rose went -on in a deep voice, looking very weird and ghostly in her long white -ceremonial robe, with only slits cut in it for the eyes and nose and -mouth, "that it is only fair to the new members who have stood the test, -to suggest some difficult feat for one of the old members to -perform--this person to be chosen by the new members of the club." - -The girls were silent for a moment, sitting there like so many actual -ghosts in their white robes, and they thrilled with excitement as they -realized the possibilities of the new rule if it should be accepted. - -It was fair, for it would give the girls who had gone through the hazing -a chance to "get even," and it would also be lots of fun for themselves. -So when Rose called in a sepulchral voice for a vote, there was a -unanimous cry of "aye." - -Billie smiled under her white mask gleefully. She had known that the -girls would be good sports. - -"The suggestion has been unanimously accepted," Rose rumbled on in the -deep voice she adopted for such occasions. "Fellow ghosts, we will now -withdraw and give our fellow members a chance to consult upon this -important topic." - -"You don't have to withdraw," cried red-haired Ada Slope, with a giggle -that she could not entirely suppress, despite the "seriousness of the -occasion." "I'll give a nickel to any girl who will climb up into tower -number three with only a candle to see by." - -"And I'll give a dime," said Ann Fleming decidedly. - -A ripple of very human laughter ran through the ghosts, and Rose had to -demand order three times before she was obeyed. - -"Very well," she said then. "Our new members have decided. It now -remains for them to select one among our number to do this mighty deed. -Advance, new members of the Ghost Club! Choose!" - -Ann Fleming put out her hand and touched one white-robed figure. - -"I choose this one," she said. - -"'Tis done!" cried Ada Slope, dramatically. - -Oh, poetic justice! For the chosen one was Billie! - - - - -CHAPTER XIV--A BLOOD-STAINED HANDKERCHIEF - - -The next problem was to find the candle for the "ghost" to carry up to -the gloomy heights of tower number three. Ada Slope, little minx that -she was, had chosen this particular one of the three towers for which -the Hall was named, because of a legend among the girls, starting from -goodness knows where, that this tower was haunted. - -Now Billie was not by any means a coward, and she had proved by her -behavior in the spooky old mansion at Cherry Corners that she was not -inclined to belief in or fear of ghosts. - -Yet when Ada Slope ran hastily up to her room and returned bearing a -tiny Christmas candle, which was all that Billie was to have to -accompany her on her perilous journey, it must be admitted that her -heart began to beat a little faster and she was guilty for a moment of -wishing that Ada Slope had picked on any other girl but herself. - -However, she acted so perfectly that there was not one of her chums but -who thought that she was delighted at the chance to explore the gloomy -old tower--with one little candle for company! - -"Suppose--" she thought to herself as Laura lighted the candle for -her--or at least she thought it was Laura; they all looked pretty much -alike in their ghostly robes--"suppose it should go out when I reach the -top of the tower and I should have to find my way back in the dark!" - -"Courage," Rose Belser cried, as she pushed Billie toward the door, the -candle flickering in her hand. "There are those who say that tower -number three is haunted. But let me remind you, friend, that a ghost is -never afraid of a ghost. Farewell!" - -This was not a very encouraging speech, though Billie could not help -giggling about it as she climbed the back stairs to the first floor. - -The house was as still as death, for it was after ten o'clock now, and -everybody, even Miss Walters, seemed to be in bed. - -Billie almost ran up the second and third flights, stumbling over her -white robe and shielding the flickering candle with her hand for fear it -would go out. - -When she reached the fourth floor, which was really the attic, she went -more slowly, for the place was dark and "spooky"--so she said--and the -noise of her footsteps frightened her. The tiny light of her candle -seemed to make the shadowy corners of the place all the more startlingly -black. - -Once she thought she heard a noise and stopped short, her heart beating -suffocatingly in her throat. But it was only the wind sighing drearily -around the place, and she went on again, more slowly now, starting at -every real or imaginary sound. - -The stairway that led to the third tower was at the very end of the long -attic, and as she came near to it Billie's courage almost failed her. It -seemed to her that something sinister and terrible was closing in around -her, and she pressed her hand against her mouth to keep from screaming. - -She could see the dim outline of the stairway right before her, but she -was afraid to go forward--and she dared not go back. - -What would the girls say if she went back to them and confessed that she -had been too cowardly to stand the test? She would be disgraced forever -in the eyes of her chums, her reputation for daring and bravery would be -gone, she might even be asked to resign from the Ghost Club. - -For a long minute she stood there, fighting the desire to rush back to -friends and human companionship. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, -she forced herself to approach the stairs. - -With every step she stopped and listened, glancing about her fearfully. -But nothing save the sound of her own rapid breathing broke the musty, -heavy silence of the place. - -"I must go on, I must go on!" she kept telling herself over and over -again. "To the very top of the tower--to the top of the tower----" - -What was that? - -A rattling, a scurrying, a scratching of tiny feet across the floor. -Billie screamed, but stifled the sound half way by stuffing a -handkerchief into her mouth. Her eyes were wide with terror, her hair -began to stand on end, and with a little moan she made a rush for the -stairs up which she had come a minute before. - -She had almost reached them when by the light of her candle she saw -something running across the floor. It was a mouse. Weakly she leaned -against the wall, trying to summon what remained of her courage. - -"They're only mice, silly--they can't hurt you," she told herself, while -her hand shook so that she could scarcely hold the candle. Then a sudden -thought made her start back for the tower stairs almost on a run. The -candle was burning low. She must hurry or she would be left in the dark. -Just a quick dive up the stairs to the tower room and the deed would be -done. She could go back then, to friends and lights and adulation. For -she would be able to tell them proudly that she had done what no other -girl had dared to do--climbed to the top of tower three. - -With such thoughts she bolstered up her courage and ran swiftly up the -stairs. But the "swish" of her garments in that silent place frightened -her and she stopped before she had quite reached the top. She listened -intently. - -Was it imagination, or had she really heard that eerie whisper in her -ear, felt the soft brushing of a dress against hers? Of course it was -only imagination. She mustn't think such things or she could never climb -to the top of those hateful stairs. She must go on and on--to the -top--the very top--Again that scurrying and squealing as she disturbed -another nest of mice. She grasped the banister frantically to steady -herself. - -She must go up--up----Finally she had reached the top of the stairs, and -for one joyful minute she thought that she had climbed to the top of the -tower. She could go back again to the girls--she had turned toward the -stairs when her eye fell on an object that made her breath catch in her -throat. - -Revealed by the uncertain flare of the candle was a ladder, leading -apparently to some room above. Of course, that must be the tower room. -Then she still had some climbing to do before her task was finished. - -Billie's heart sank as she approached the ladder, stumbling over bits of -junk and rubbish that littered the floor. She must hurry, too, for the -candle was burning down and she must not be left in the dark in that -place. She would go crazy--or something. - -Outside the wind was rising, and it wailed around the corners of the old -building with an unspeakably weird and mournful sound that filled Billie -with a dreadful premonition of evil. - -She really felt, as she hesitated at the foot of the ladder, that she -must get back to the girls or she would go mad. Her knees were trembling -so that she was afraid she could never climb the ladder to the top. - -But she must do it or go back to the girls disgraced. - -One hand grasped the rung above her head while the other held aloft the -flickering candle and she began the difficult climb, hampered by the -long white robe that clung like something alive about her ankles and by -the necessity of holding the candle. - -Four rungs, five rungs, six rungs--was the ladder a mile long? she -wondered, while the wind wailed still more dismally about the house. - -Then at last she reached the top. Her candle showed a small door not -more than four feet high--the door to the tower room. - -Her hand felt for the knob. She grasped it. The door was locked. To make -sure, Billie gave the door a vigorous shake, and as it did so something -white and soft fluttered to her feet and fell on the top rung of the -ladder. - -For a minute Billie felt faint and dizzy, and she had to cling to the -ladder desperately to keep from falling. - -The next moment she saw that what had frightened her was only a -handkerchief, and she stooped to pick it up. It was old and stained. -What was that stain upon it? - -She brought the little square of linen closer to her eyes and then with -a stifled scream she flung it from her while the candle fell from her -nerveless fingers and went out, leaving her in the dark. - -The stain on the handkerchief was _blood_! - -Billie never remembers to this day how she got out of that awful place. -Someway she half fell, half scrambled down the ladder, stumbled and fell -and stumbled again in her mad rush across the pitch-black attic to the -head of the stairs. - -Then down, down, down, a countless number of stairs that came up and hit -her in the face--down, down to the gymnasium where thousands of ghostly -figures rushed at her---- - -"Oh, what could have happened to have frightened her so?" she heard a -voice saying from a long, long distance, and she opened her eyes to find -Laura's white face bending anxiously over her while other white-faced -girls stared at her pityingly. - -She struggled to her feet, but her knees wavered so that she sat down -again quite suddenly. - -"What's the matter with you all?" she asked, then as the memory of what -had happened came back to her in a flood she shuddered and instinctively -she looked down at her hands to see if they still held that piece of -linen with the stains upon it. - -"Oh, I remember," she murmured, as though talking to herself. The girls -were watching her anxiously. "I threw it away." - -"What, honey?" asked Laura gently. - -"The blood-stained handkerchief!" - - - - -CHAPTER XV--A DISCOVERY - - -It took the other girls some time to get the whole story from Billie, -but when she had stammered it out to them they broke into a babel of -excited exclamations that threatened to bring one of the teachers to -their hiding place. - -It was Billie herself who thought of this danger and who finally managed -to calm them down a little. - -"Not so loud," she entreated, still feeling faint and shaky from her -experience. "You know what will happen if somebody finds us here." - -"But Billie," protested Laura, though her voice sank to a more cautious -whisper, "we've got to do something about it, you know. There may have -been a murder or something up there." - -"Perhaps we'd better all go back with Billie and try to get into that -little room at the head of the ladder," suggested one of the girls, but -the mere idea made Billie shudder. - -"You can go," she said decidedly. "But I'm through for to-night." - -"Oh, well, if you won't go," said the girl dejectedly, "it's all off, of -course. We need a guide----" - -"I don't see why," protested Billie. "Nobody gave me a guide." - -"No. And it was a shame to send you away up there all alone," said Vi, -putting a protecting arm about her. "It's a wonder you didn't die of -fright." - -"I suppose," said Ann Fleming, thoughtfully, "we might tell one of the -teachers about it--or Miss Walters, perhaps--and she could go with us up -to the tower----" - -"Say," interrupted Rose Belser with her most pronounced drawl, as she -looked contemptuously upon the freshman who had proposed so foolish a -thing, "it's easy to see you haven't been at Three Towers long, Ann. Now -just what do you suppose would happen if we told Miss Walters that we -were up after hours initiating and doing stunts?" - -"I--I didn't think of that," stammered Ann, completely crushed. - -"I thought you didn't," answered Rose dryly. - -For some time afterward the girls discussed in awed whispers the -startling thing that had happened, and then somebody suddenly conceived -the idea that it would not be a bad thing to go to bed. - -Billie was looking very white and shaky after her ordeal. Then, too, it -was getting late, and there was always the chance of discovery by some -"over-curious teacher." - -"But I'll never, never, sleep a wink," said Vi, as they filed ghost-like -out of the gymnasium. "I know I'll be dreaming of blood-stained -handkerchiefs all night long." - -"And I don't think it's fair," pouted Connie, "for Billie to have all -the adventures. First she gets lost with Teddy and discovers a perfectly -good cave, and then she unearths a thrilling mystery, like this. Too -much good luck for one person." - -"Good luck!" repeated Billie ruefully. "Well, if you call _that_ good -luck, I certainly would hate to be the one to find out what bad luck -is." - -"Hush," ordered Rose, once more assuming the deep voice of the head of -the ghosts. "Some one may hear you and we'll all be shot at sunrise." - -"I never get up that early," giggled Laura. - -Many and varied were the plans the girls made for a storming of tower -number three in the hope of solving the mystery of that little locked -door and the blood-stained handkerchief. However, there seemed to be so -many obstacles in the way of carrying out these plans that they -reluctantly decided to give up the idea, at least for the time being. - -"And, anyway," Laura had said in one of their discussions, "the blood -stains on that handkerchief might not have meant anything mysterious at -all. Maybe somebody had a nose-bleed." - -"How romantic!" drawled Rose while the other girls giggled at the idea. - -Their studies and the race for prizes absorbed the classmates in the -days that followed and gradually the mystery, if indeed it was a -mystery, faded from their minds. - -Billie worked hard, and thought she was getting along finely. She -commenced to grow a trifle pale, and at this Vi and Laura shook their -heads. - -"Don't overdo it, Billie," said Vi. - -"No kind of prize is worth one's health," added Laura. - -"Don't worry about me," declared Billie, with a smile. "I know what you -want to do--make me let up so you can pass me." - -"Oh, you know better than that!" cried Laura. - -"Of course she does," came from Vi. "Now remember, don't study so hard -that you get sick." - -"No danger," retorted Billie airily. - -It was nearly a week later when Billie suddenly realized that there was -another thing they had almost forgotten, and that was Polly Haddon and -her unhappy little family. - -"And poor little Peter!" said Vi penitently, when Billie spoke to her -about it. "He must be either better or dead by this time." - -"Suppose we go over to-morrow"--the next day being Saturday--Laura -suggested. "We can walk to town first. Or maybe we can get Tim Budd to -drive us over in the wagon. We can get some good canned stuff, soups and -things, and take them over to the Haddons when we go." - -The next day the girls sought out Tim Budd, who was the gardener at the -Hall and who was also, alas! the father of poor, simple Nick Budd with -whom Teddy and Billie had had so queer an experience. After a great deal -of coaxing, they succeeded in getting the gardener to take them to town -in the carryall. From this it may be seen that Tim acted as chauffeur -also upon occasion. - -They were in hilarious spirits all the way to the town and back again, -and it was not until they had almost reached Three Towers that Vi made a -suggestion that somehow clouded their faces. - -"Suppose she won't accept these things?" she said, giving the -well-stocked basket at her feet a little shove. "You said yourself she -was awfully proud, Billie." - -Billie looked sober for a moment, but Laura, as ever, found something to -laugh at. - -"Why worry about that?" said the incorrigible one, gaily. "If she -doesn't want 'em we'll have a midnight feast and use them ourselves." - -Tim Budd let them out at the Hall and they walked the rest of the way to -the little cottage. Mrs. Haddon herself opened the door, but she looked -so pale and wan that they hardly recognized her. - -The woman welcomed the girls absently, as if her mind were a great way -off, but when her eyes fell on the basket a resigned little smile played -about her lips. - -"More charity," she muttered, as though to herself. "Well, I will take -it because I must. But I'll pay it back." She turned proudly upon the -girls and her fine eyes flashed. "No one can say of Polly Haddon that -she left her debts unpaid." - -Taken aback by this unexpected declaration, the girls said nothing, but -shifted their feet uneasily, wishing fervently that Polly Haddon would -turn the fire of her black eyes on something else. - -But almost instantly the woman's mood became softer, and, seeing the -girls' embarrassment, she tried to put them at their ease. - -"Thank you so much," she said. "Won't you sit down? The basket is heavy -and you have come a long way." - -The girls, not knowing what else to do, sat down on the three spindly -chairs awkwardly enough, and Laura and Vi sent distress signals -Billie-wards. For Billie was always their spokesman. - -So Billie, who had been as much abashed as any of them at their rather -queer reception, found her tongue with difficulty and asked Mrs. Haddon -how Peter was. - -"He is dreadfully low," Mrs. Haddon answered softly. Her head drooped -wearily and her hands were crossed listlessly in front of her. "The -doctor says it is not even an even chance whether he lives or dies." - -The girls murmured their very real sympathy, and Billie started to ask -another question when the door at the other end of the room opened and -the two little girls, Mary and Isabel, entered. - -At sight of the visitors they looked startled and started to retreat, -but their mother called to them. - -"Come here," she said, and the children sidled slowly up to her where -they stood, their large eyes fixed shyly on the girls. "Don't you know -these young ladies?" asked the mother, putting an arm about each of the -poor little thin things caressingly and drawing them up close to her. -"They are the ones who brought you home that day that you were naughty -and ran away, and they have been very kind to us since." - -There was a slight sound from the room beyond where poor little Peter -lay so desperately ill, and Mrs. Haddon rose suddenly, leaving the two -little girls and the three big girls together. - -It would have been hard to tell at first who was the most embarrassed. -But as no children had ever known to resist Billie for very long, the -two little Haddons were soon won over and chatted to the three big girls -in careless, innocent child fashion. - -"We get good things to eat now," said Isabel, confidentially, speaking -of the thing that loomed biggest and most important in her starved -little life. "A man comes almost every night with a basket--just like -this," and she eyed the basket which the girls had brought with hungry -eyes. - -"Yes, an' he's a funny little man, too," added Mary, her big eyes round -with eagerness. "He has whiskers and he stoops--dreadful." - -A glance of understanding passed between the chums. - -"That description----" Vi began. - -"Suits Tim Budd----" added Laura. - -"To a T," finished Billie. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI--CHRISTMAS CHEER - - -So Miss Walters was seeing to it that Polly Haddon received food -regularly--"almost every night!" Of course Miss Walters had promised to -look out for the family, but the girls had hardly expected her to be so -generous. - -And while they were still turning the revelation over wonderingly in -their minds, Polly Haddon called to them softly from the other room. - -It was a bare little room into which they stepped--barer and poorer than -even they had imagined. And in the midst of a little iron bed lay Peter, -so pathetically white and emaciated that it tore their hearts to look at -him. - -"Is he very bad?" asked Billie, turning to weary-eyed Polly Haddon. - -"The doctor says he almost surely will die," answered the latter in a -toneless voice. "He has just one chance out of a hundred." - -And as though speaking the doctor's name had brought him there, the big -man himself entered at that moment and the girls took that opportunity -to say good-bye. - -"Poor little Peter," sighed Billie, as they walked slowly homeward. "I -suppose if he dies poor Mrs. Haddon will nearly die too." - -"I wish there was something we could do," said Vi, frowning. - -"I don't know what more we could do than we have done," said Laura -gloomily. - -"Except," said Billie thoughtfully, her eyes fixed on the far horizon, -"find that invention of hers. I imagine that would make her so happy -that she might even persuade poor little Peter to live." - -"Good gracious!" cried Laura, throwing up her hands in a despairing -gesture. "She's raving again, girls, she's raving again!" - -Billie laughed, but her eyes were still very thoughtful. - -But the holiday season was upon them and it was impossible for the girls -to be gloomy or unhappy for very long. They wished with all their hearts -that Polly Haddon and her pathetic little brood might be made happy and -prosperous once more, but even while they were wishing they could not -shake off the exultant thought that Christmas was coming. And Christmas -to most of them meant home and family and turkeys and cranberry sauce -and presents--oh, oodles of presents! - -"No holiday quite as good as good old Christmas," observed Laura, gaily, -as she danced around with a package she had just been doing up in a red -ribbon. - -"I'm with you on that," declared Billie. "Oh, do you know, sometimes I -can hardly wait until Christmas comes!" - -"But you'll wait just the same," drawled Vi. "We all will." - -"It's waiting that makes it worth while," declared Billie. "It's like -the small boy and the circus. Tell him in the morning that you will take -him in the afternoon and it doesn't amount to much. But tell him a month -ahead and he'll get a whole month's fun out of it before it comes off." - -"All right, Billie, I'll tell you a secret," whispered Vi, with a -twinkle in her eyes. "About a year from now we'll have another -Christmas. Now is your time to start thinking about it." And then there -were giggles all around. - -"I'll wait for one Christmas to be over before I think of the next," -declared Billie. - -Billie had asked Connie Danvers to come home with her for over the -holidays, but Connie, after, writing eagerly home for permission, had -had to refuse the invitation. Mrs. Danvers thanked Mrs. Bradley and -Billie, but there was to be a big reunion of the Danvers family that -Christmas and they had all counted on having Connie with them. If Billie -could come home with Connie for Christmas--but here Billie shook her -head decidedly, though the invitation was an enticing one. She knew that -her mother would certainly want her at home for the most wonderful day -in all the year. - -And so when the time came, the classmates went their several ways after -many fond embraces had been exchanged--to say nothing of various -mysterious little green- and red-ribboned parcels. - -The Christmas spirit is a wonderful thing, intangible, yet so real that -even the most hardened old reprobate will thrill to the magic of it. And -as these girls were neither hardened nor reprobates, they were kept in a -continual state of excitement and joyful anticipation for two whole -weeks before the great day arrived. - -Ever since the opening of Three Towers Hall in the fall, the girls had -used their spare moments to sew on little mysterious things which were -immediately hidden upon the arrival of any of their fellow students, and -now these same pieces of needlework began to blossom forth in gay -be-ribboned boxes that passed between the girls in a continual stream. - -Sometimes one would be found between the sheets of a girl's bed when she -jumped in at night and the touch of it would elicit a muffled shriek, to -be followed by hysterical giggles when the gift was pulled from its -hiding place and disclosed in all its glory to be admired and exclaimed -over by the girls who had not been lucky enough to bark their shins on -gifts of their own. - -And sometimes another be-ribboned parcel would find its way into the -stocking of a lucky maiden while she slept or be discovered in an -out-of-the-way corner of her desk, nearly covered by books and papers. - -And as the time drew still nearer, even interest in their studies -flagged, and the teachers, wisely forbearing to force them, entered into -the fun themselves, knowing that one could not study much while the -Christmas cheer was in the air. - -The girls had fondly hoped that Teddy and Chet and Ferd would be able to -make the return trip with them, but as Boxton Academy did not close for -the holidays until the day after the official closing of Three Towers, -the girls were forced to give up the idea. - -"Oh, well," Billie said resignedly, "as long as they get there for -Christmas it will be time enough." - -The day of release came at last and found the three North Bend girls -doing a two-step of impatience on the station platform, waiting for the -train, which was already half an hour late. - -"Goodness, but your bag looks stuffed, Billie," remarked Laura, stopping -before Billie's big suitcase whose bulging sides did look as though they -might burst at any moment and disgorge the contents. - -"It has twenty presents in it," confided Billie, surveying her fat -property with a loving eye. "I only hope it holds out till we get home, -that's all!" - -Then the train puffed around the bend and slowed up to the station. And -several hours later three very much flushed, very much excited, and very -pretty young girls popped off the train at North Bend and straight into -the arms of their doting families. - -"Merry Christmas!" they cried to every one in general and no one in -particular. "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Oh, -isn't it glorious to be at home!" - -The boys arrived the next day, and they all had a great reunion at -Billie's home, where they exchanged presents and talked in hushed tones -of what they hoped that Santa Claus would bring them--to-morrow! For -this was Christmas Eve! - -But the party broke up soon, and they all went to bed early so that they -could get up at six o'clock the next morning--at the very latest. - -Oh, the fun of anticipating and the joy of Christmas Day. First of all, -the bulging stocking with its lumps of coal and pieces of carefully -wrapped sugar with really pretty things stuck in between. - -Then the mad rush for the Christmas tree and the admiring exclamations -over its glittering beauty. And then--the opening of the gay, -be-ribboned boxes. The laughter, the joy, the tears, as each little -parcel disclosed something prettier or funnier or dearer than the last. -It was all so wonderful that it was a pity it could not have lasted -forever. - -Then, after Christmas, one glorious, ecstatic week of fun that passed -like a day. There were dances and parties and sleighrides and so many -other festivities that there was hardly a minute of the day that was not -accounted for. - -It was not till the week was almost over that the girls thought -penitently of the Haddons. - -"I wonder," said Billie, as she turned over and over in her fingers a -ten dollar gold piece that had been a gift from an aunt, "what kind of -Christmas poor little Peter has had." - -"Oh, for goodness' sake, Billie!" Laura replied a little impatiently, -"what is the use of spoiling all our fun by bringing up the unhappiness -of some one else? We can't help it if the Haddons haven't had as nice a -Christmas as we have. We certainly have done all we could." - -But Vi had been eyeing Billie's gold piece, and suddenly she had a -bright idea all her own. - -"Listen," she said, pulling out her pocket book and fumbling in it -eagerly. She brought out a glistening five dollar gold piece. "We all -got a little money in gold this Christmas. Suppose we do it up in a box -and leave it at the Haddons' door when we get back. We have enough money -to get along with for the rest of the term, anyway." - -For a moment Laura looked a little undecided, but Billie jumped up, ran -over to Vi and hugged her. - -"You're a perfect angel!" she cried. "That's just exactly what I was -thinking myself. Only I wasn't going to ask you girls. I was just going -to leave mine and say nothing about it." - -"Oh, well," grumbled Laura, taking her own bright coin from its hiding -place and handing it over reluctantly. "If you girls are going to be -foolish I suppose I've got to be too. Only it's no joke," she added, in -a plaintive tone that made the girls giggle, "when you think of all the -sodas and candy it would buy!" - -At last the long anticipated holidays were at an end and after a few -days of readjustment at the school, the classmates settled down to work -in earnest. For the rest of the semester was crowded with work and the -prizes were held out as a glittering bait to spur them on to fresh -endeavor. - -Only once, after their return to the Hall, the girls found time to run -over to see the Haddons, hoping to be able to hide the generous gift -they had decided to make in some inconspicuous place where it would not -be discovered until they had had time to make their escape. - -Polly Haddon seemed very glad indeed to see them, but she had no good -news to report of Peter. He was still very low, but the doctor, great -man that he was, was bending every energy to bring him through. - -"But he will die," said the mother, despairingly. "There is so little -left of him now that I wonder that every breath he draws is not his -last. Oh, my little boy! My poor little boy! I'll not let him be taken -from me!" - -They comforted her as best they could, and then Billie, to the -astonishment of her chums, began asking questions about the knitting -machinery model, the disappearance of which had so changed life for this -distracted woman. - -"Was the model large or was it small, so that it could easily be stolen -and hidden away?" she asked, while Polly Haddon looked up at her with -something like surprise in her black eyes. - -"It was large," she answered. "And rather heavy. It could not be easily -stolen, and neither could it have been hidden away in any small place. -That is why we wondered. But why do you ask?" - -"I don't know," answered Billie honestly. "Perhaps it is just because I -would like to help you so much." - -The woman reached over and patted her hand gently, but her eyes had -become listless again. - -"You--everybody--have been so good to me," she said, tonelessly. "I -don't know why you have been so good--no one ever was before. But there -is one thing you can not do for me. You can not restore my poor -husband's invention, the loss of which caused his death. That would be a -miracle. And in these days no one is working miracles." - -Mrs. Haddon left the room for a moment, and in that moment Billie -slipped the little box containing their three precious gold pieces -behind the alarm clock that stood on a shelf over the sink. - -The woman returned before Billie had quite finished, but she was too -worried and anxious and unhappy to notice anything unusual. And the -little box was still safe in its hiding place when the girls took their -leave a few minutes later. - -"Won't she be surprised when she finds it?" crowed Vi delightedly. "I -feel like Santa Claus." - -"Well, you don't look like it," returned Laura, "Your face isn't red -enough." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII--BILLIE ON GUARD - - -From this remark of Laura's it may be easily seen that she was still a -little grouchy about having to give up five dollars' worth of sodas and -candy. But away down in her heart she derived more real pleasure from -the thought of what her gold piece would buy for the Haddons than she -would out of a great deal more than five dollars' worth of pleasure for -herself. - -"Billie," spoke up Vi suddenly after they had walked some little way in -silence, "what did you ask Mrs. Haddon about that lost invention for?" - -"Yes, it sounded as if you really knew something about it," Laura took -her up eagerly. "You don't, do you?" - -"Not a thing in the world," Billie replied quickly. "Only," she added -slowly, the same thoughtful look in her eyes that had been there before, -"so many queer things have happened to me lately that I'm getting sort -of queer myself, I guess. I can't help thinking about that cave Teddy -and I found." - -"Well, I don't blame you for thinking of it," said Laura, looking -curiously at her chum. "I think of it myself--quite often. But what has -that to do with the stolen machinery models?" - -"Nothing, of course," said Billie, adding as the three towers of the -grand old Hall loomed into view. "But I would like to have a look at the -inside of that cave again. Maybe the models were taken there and broken -up. The cave was full of junk." - -Laura, really curious by this time, was about to put a question when she -saw Amanda and the "Shadow" approaching, and the question died in her -throat. - -The three classmates, who never deliberately "cut" anybody, nodded to -the two girls in a friendly enough manner, but the latter looked -straight at them and never so much as winked an eye. - -"Whew!" whistled Laura, softly, as the chums stopped and looked back -after the unmannerly girls. "Cut, by jinks!" - -"And by Amanda, of all people!" added Vi, in the same tone. - -"Well, come on," said Billie, and she turned and led the way up the -steps. "There's no use standing there and looking after them like a lot -of wooden Indians. I'd like--" she added, her temper getting the better -of her for the moment, "I would like to wring that girl's neck." - -"Do you know," said Vi a few minutes later when they were washing -themselves in the dormitory, "that Amanda has entered for the -composition prize?" - -The girls looked at her unbelievingly. - -"Amanda!" cried Billie, laughing at the absurdity of the thing. "Why, -Amanda can hardly write her own name. You know that." - -"Of course I know it," agreed Vi, scrubbing her face vigorously. "That's -why it seems so silly. Unless she has something up her sleeve," she -added meaningly. - -"How did you find out?" asked Laura, curling up on the bed and regarding -her chum severely. "Did she tell you?" - -"Tell me!" repeated Vi with a chuckle. "That _is_ a good one. No, I just -happened to overhear her telling Eliza that she had entered for the -composition prize and that she was going to give Billie Bradley the -surprise of her life." - -"She surely does love me," sighed Billie, as she pulled her pretty curls -into place. "I don't see why she doesn't pick on somebody else for a -change." - -"Well, you'd better look out, that's all," said Vi, wrinkling her -forehead seriously. "I'm almost sure she is planning some crooked work, -and it's up to us to double cross her." - -"Hear, hear!" cried Laura delightedly. "And Vi is the one who is always -calling me down for using slang. Fine for a beginner, Vi darling. Keep -it up." - -The result of this revelation of Vi's was to make the girls watch Amanda -and the "Shadow" more carefully than ever before. And if it had not been -for just this watchfulness there is no telling what might have happened -to Billie Bradley, and through her, to her classmates. - -And this was the way it happened. - -Luckily for the three North Bend chums, Amanda and her "Shadow" shared -the dormitory with them and Rose Belser. And so it was that Billie, -coming in unexpectedly one day heard the very end of a sentence spoken -in a loud whisper by Amanda. And though it was only the end of the -sentence, it told a great deal to Billie, whose suspicions had already -been aroused. - -"--at ten to-night, in Miss Race's room," were the words she caught. The -fact that Amanda stopped speaking at sight of her and grew an unsightly -brick red, gave Billie further proof that the girl was plotting -mischief. Very probably the scapegoat was to be--herself. - -She gave no sign that she had heard anything out of the ordinary, but -when she had found the book she had come for and was out in the hall -once more, her heart was pounding heavily and her face was hot. - -Ever since they had come to Three Towers Amanda had done her best to -discredit Billie. She had not succeeded so far, but some time she might. -Was this the time? thought Billie, a dull rage taking possession of her. - -No! She would not let Amanda get the better of her. She would outwit -her, now that she had been warned. Then a dreadful thought came to her. - -Suppose Amanda, thinking she had given her secret away, postponed her -miserable plot, whatever it was, until another time? No wonder Billie -answered questions queerly that afternoon, so queerly, in fact, that one -teacher asked her if she were ill and would like to be excused! - -But Billie did not want to be excused--that would mean more time to -herself to think. And so she blundered through the miserable afternoon -and her heart jumped with relief when the last gong sounded that meant -liberty. - -Connie and Laura overtook her in the hall on the way to the dormitory -and Laura looked actually anxious. - -"What was the matter with you this afternoon?" she asked. "Why, you -answered 'no' three times when it should have been 'yes,' and it sounded -so silly I'd have had to laugh if I hadn't been scared to death!" - -"What is it, Billie?" added Connie, putting an arm about her friend. -"You look dreadfully white. Aren't you feeling well?" - -Then, pulling them into a secluded corner of the dormitory, Billie told -them what she had heard, and as Vi came in just as she had finished, she -had to tell it all over again, just for her benefit. - -Of course the girls were all angry, and Laura wanted to go and have it -out with Amanda at once, but Billie, who had had all the afternoon to -think out the best thing to do, commanded her to say nothing about it to -any one. - -"Listen," she said, tensely. "Somebody's apt to come in at any minute, -and then I can't say it. This is what we will do to-night. - -"We'll pull our nighties on over our clothes, get into bed and pretend -to go to sleep. Then we'll wait till Amanda starts whatever she's going -to do, and we'll follow her and see what she's up to." - -"And then," said Laura, driven to more forceful slang by the necessity -for emphasis, "we'll just about _settle_ her!" - -True to their plans, they retired to the dormitory that night before -Amanda or the "Shadow" or Rose Belser arrived there, and they hurriedly -slipped their nightgowns over their clothes and got into bed. - -"Poor Connie's wailing her heart out," chuckled Laura, "because she's in -another dorm and can't be in at the death. I say, Vi, push the collar of -your dress down. It shows outside your nightie." - -"Sh-h," warned Billie. "I hear somebody coming----" - -The somebody proved to be no other than Amanda and Eliza, and when they -entered they found Billie and Laura and Vi sleeping peacefully with a -cherubic expression of utter innocence on their faces. - -It seemed to the girls that they had never lived through an hour so long -as that between nine o'clock and ten that night. And it was with more -than relief that they heard a slight stir at last and saw a shadowy -figure slip out of bed and make noiselessly for the door. And while they -held their breath for fear their breathing might betray them, they saw a -second shadow flit after the first one. "The Shadow," in fact! - -They waited till the conspirators had had time to get well down the -hall, then they too slipped quietly out of bed, pulled their nightgowns -off, and started in pursuit. - -"Sh," whispered Billie. "Take your time. We want to let them do it -before we catch them at it." - -When they reached Miss Race's door they were surprised to see a light in -the room. Was it possible Amanda had been brazen enough to turn on the -light herself? - -Cautiously Billie peeped into the room and saw that Amanda and Eliza -were busily at work doing something to the teacher's desk at the other -end of the room. They were alone, so it must have been Amanda who had -switched on the light. The girl was bold with the courage of stupidity. - -Laura uttered a stifled exclamation, and would have pushed past Billie -but the latter held her back. For still another minute she hesitated, -then called to the girls softly. - -"Now," she said, and ran swiftly into the room, Laura and Vi beside her. -So quickly and silently did they come that they were almost upon the two -girls before either of them looked up. Then---- - -"Amanda Peabody!" cried Billie, her voice choked with anger. "We've -caught you this time! Now let's see what you were doing!" - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII--AMANDA'S REVENGE - - -Amanda's jaw dropped and she sprang back while Eliza cowered behind her. -The former held an ink bottle which she had been about to turn upside -down in Miss Race's desk. - -With a quick movement Laura snatched it from the girl's hand and held it -aloft triumphantly. - -"Look, Billie," she said in a loud whisper. "Amanda was going to spill -this in the desk and then blame it on you." - -Amanda made a quick dart for the door, but Billie ran after her and -pulled her back. - -"Not yet," she said, grimly. "You'll wait till we're through with you or -I'll go to Miss Walters and report the whole thing. You had better not -try to get funny." - -Amanda started to bluster, but on second thoughts decided not to. Billie -and her chums had the argument all on their side this time, and the -thought made her fume inwardly. - -As for the "Shadow," her homely face was pale with fright, and she stood -motionless and scared on the spot where the girls had first discovered -her. - -The plan of the two conspirators had evidently been to upset the -teacher's desk and then blame the whole thing on Billie. But how could -Amanda hope to prove that Billie had done it all? - -Thus thought the girls as they rummaged through the desk in search of -some further trick. And then, they found it. - -"Look at this!" cried Billie, holding aloft a little square of linen at -sight of which Amanda grew more sullen and Eliza quaked. "It's my -handkerchief with my initials and my laundry mark on it. -Those--those--girls--were going to leave it here after spilling the ink, -and when Miss Race found it she would of course think that I was the -guilty one. Oh--what shall we do to them?" - -She glared at the tricksters while Amanda tossed her head defiantly and -Eliza shrank still farther back into the corner. - -"But that would have been so silly," cried Laura, who had snatched the -handkerchief from Billie and was examining it eagerly. Vi, in her turn -was trying to pull it from her. "Miss Race would know that you would -have sense enough not to give yourself away by leaving your -handkerchief. Their heads sure are made of bone," and she favored the -girls with a contemptuous glance that was harder to bear than Billie's -anger. - -"I wouldn't leave my handkerchief on purpose of course," Billie pointed -out. "I might have dropped it by accident, though." - -"But how did they get the hanky," wondered Vi, wide-eyed at this example -of depravity. - -"Probably stole it out of my pocket when I wasn't looking," said Billie -contemptuously, and at that Amanda made a show of defense. - -"You needn't call me a thief, Billie Bradley!" she exclaimed, but Laura -cut her short with a flippant observation. - -"Would you rather she would call Miss Walters?" she asked, which -effectively closed the girl's mouth. - -"Let's make 'em clean up," suggested Billie. "I'd call Miss Walters, -only they're not worth spoiling her sleep for. Come on over here, you -two, and get busy." - -"We won't do it," said Amanda, but as Billie started toward her she -quite suddenly changed her mind. - -"Oh, all right," she said angrily, as she flounced over to the desk, -pulling the limp "Shadow" after her. "We'll do it this time. But you -just look out, Billie Bradley. I'll make you pay for this." - -Laura struck a dramatic attitude. - -"Look out," she cried. "The worm is turning. Let us nip it in the bud!" - -It was all right for them to laugh at Amanda's discomfiture then and -treat the whole thing as a joke, but in the morning they were not quite -sure that they had done the right thing. - -"I think we ought to have reported her to Miss Walters," worried Vi. -"Then she and the Shadow would have been expelled, or suspended at -least, and we would have had no more trouble with them. As it is----" - -"Oh, don't be an old gloom hound," commanded Billie, seizing her chum -round the waist and whirling her about the room in a fantastic dance. -"They've never been able to do anything to us yet, so what's the use of -worrying?" - -"Sure," agreed Laura, busy marking passages in her "Life of Washington." -"That's what I say. We're too many for 'em." - -But in spite of their optimism, in their hearts the girls decided to -watch Amanda and her cowardly "Shadow" more closely than ever in the -future. - -And the girls would have been put even more on their guard if they could -have peeped into the library one afternoon and overheard the curious -conversation that took place between two girls seated in a far corner of -the big room. - -"I've got it at last!" gloated one of the girls, who was no other than -the plotting Amanda herself. Eliza, of course, was her inevitable -companion. - -"I don't know what you're talking about," said the latter rather -snappishly. For, since the fiasco in Miss Race's room, she had not -entered into Amanda's schemes quite so whole-heartedly as she had -before. "I don't see why you should be so pleased about finding a musty -old book." - -"Of course you don't see," said Amanda, patronizingly. "That's what I'm -going to explain to you." - -She paused a moment, regarding the "musty old book" in her hand -lovingly. Eliza moved impatiently in the seat beside her and Amanda -grinned at her. - -"You remember I told you I was going to try for the composition prize?" - -"Yes," said Eliza crossly, adding with a frankness that might have been -disconcerting to anybody but Amanda: "And I thought you were crazy even -to think of it. You haven't a chance in the world beside Billie Bradley -or Rose Belser or any of those girls." - -"I know I wouldn't as a rule," admitted Amanda, her small eyes gleaming -with triumph. "But with this book," she caressed the little volume -fondly, "_they_ won't have a chance against _me_!" - -"And still I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," -snapped Eliza. "I wish you'd stop grinning to yourself and get to the -point--if there is one," she added under her breath. - -"All right," said Amanda, too delighted with her own cleverness to -notice her shadow's bad temper. "Listen then, and I'll tell you just how -I came to think about it. - -"I was rummaging through some books on the top shelf one day, trying to -find one I needed, when down behind the rest of them I happened to come -across this little old book of biographies of the great generals of the -world. It was covered with dust, and so old and shabby-looking that I -was sure it hadn't been touched in an age." - -"Yes," said Eliza impatiently, as Amanda paused for breath. - -"Of course that was before the composition prize was offered, so I put -the book back where I found it and forgot all about it. But now----" she -paused and the "Shadow" saw a gleam of light. - -"And now," Eliza finished, "you think you are going to get material -enough out of this musty little old book to take the prize away from -Billie Bradley. I see." - -"Oh no, you don't see." It was Amanda's turn to be impatient. "I'm not -going to try to write an original composition at all. Listen," she -lowered her voice to a whisper although they two were the only ones in -the large room. "I'm going to copy it from this book--word for word!" - -For a moment Eliza stared at the grinning girl, pop-eyed. Then as the -daring of the thing sank into her muddled brain she sank back in her -chair and shook her head slowly. - -"Don't do it," she said. "If they should find out----" - -"But nobody's going to find out," cried Amanda, as gleeful as though the -coveted prize were already in her hands. "This is an old book, and -probably nobody in this place has even heard of it. Say, won't that -Bradley girl's eyes stick out when she sees me walking off with the -prize? Oh my, oh my! This is the time I'm going to settle _her_!" - -It was just about this time that a furor was caused in the school by the -disappearance of articles belonging to the students. - -The articles were small and seldom valuable--so insignificant were some -of them, in fact, that the owners never missed them until the report of -numerous other losses spread through the school and woke them to the -realization that they, too, were victims of the petty thief--whoever she -was. - -For that the guilty one was one of their schoolmates there seemed to be -little doubt. For what outsider would care for such things as pencils -and erasers and old jackknives? - -It was true that one or two of the losses were valuable. A gold-mounted -fountain pen for instance, which had been a Christmas present to one of -the girls, who lamented her loss with "loud wailings and gnashings of -teeth," as Laura described it. - -It was when the excitement over this strange series of events was at its -height that Billie drew Laura and Vi aside one day and whispered a -startling decision in their ears. - -"Girls," she said, "I've dreamed of that locked room in tower three two -nights in succession, and I've found an old bunch of keys and one of -them may fit. Are you willing to come with me? Or have I got to go -alone?" - - - - -CHAPTER XIX--THE TOWER ROOM - - -For a moment the girls looked as though they thought Billie had gone -mad. The proposal had been made to them so suddenly that it took their -breath away. - -"But, Billie, aren't you afraid--after finding that blood-stained -handkerchief and everything?" demanded Vi, round-eyed. - -"Of course I'm afraid! But I'm going just the same," said Billie -stoutly. "I've wondered and wondered about what might be in that locked -room till I'm nearly crazy. And if you won't go with me, I'm going -alone," she repeated. - -"Don't be foolish," commanded Laura. "If you go, of course we'll go. But -suppose none of your keys will fit?" she added, glancing at a half dozen -rusty keys on a still more rusty key ring which Billie was jingling -nervously. Billie had found the key ring on a nail in a dark corner of -her locker the day before. She had been about to deliver it to the lost -and found office when the inspiration had come to her. She would try the -keys first to see if by any chance one of them could be used to unlock -the little door in tower three. It would be time enough afterward to -report her discovery. - -Now at Laura's question she looked somewhat provoked. - -"Don't you s'pose I've thought of that?" she said, adding, with a -twinkling smile: "Somebody is always taking the joy out of life!" - -"We can try 'em, anyway," said Laura doubtfully, still speaking of the -keys. "But they don't look very promising." - -"But, girls," Vi protested weakly, "suppose we should find something -horrible up there--a skeleton or something?" - -"Well, the poor old skeleton couldn't hurt us," returned Laura, adding -with a giggle: "Probably it would be glad to see us after being up there -alone so long." - -"But the blood-stained handkerchief"--Vi whispered. - -"Oh, that!" said Laura, with a lofty wave of her hand. "That's nothing. -I told you before that probably somebody had a nose-bleed." - -Which made even Vi giggle and had the effect of stilling her fears for -the time being, at least. - -They had hard work getting away from their classmates without arousing -their suspicion, but they succeeded at last. The three girls ran lightly -up the three flights of stairs that led to the musty old attic. - -Now that the moment was at hand they were more excited than nervous, and -their hearts beat high with the hope that they might really find a -mystery hidden behind that locked door. But what could it be? - -The queer sounds and heavy musty smell of the attic that had seemed so -dreadful to Billie on that never-to-be-forgotten night seemed natural -and even funny in the revealing daylight. - -The shadowy corners that had seemed so sinister when lighted only by one -tiny flickering candle were only corners now, cobwebbed and dusty, to be -sure, but harmless. - -Mice scuttled across the floor squeaking angrily at being disturbed, but -although Vi screamed and Laura side-stepped nervously, Billie only -laughed. To-day they were only little mice more afraid of her than she -was of them. That night they had been monsters waiting to devour her. - -But just the same, some measure of her nervousness returned when they -reached the stairway down which she had nearly tumbled in her wild -flight. - -Laura and Vi seemed to share her uneasiness, for they stopped at the -foot of the stairs and held back a little. - -"Who goes up first to meet the skeleton?" asked Laura, with an attempt -at a laugh that sounded strained even to herself. - -"You do," said Vi, adding maliciously: "You were the one who said he -wouldn't hurt us." - -Seeing that Laura was about to argue the point, Billie pushed -impatiently past them both and ran defiantly up the stairs. Laura, thus -challenged, took the stairs two at a time after her and Vi followed -reluctantly. - -"Look! There's the handkerchief," said Billie, kicking the tiny square -of blood-stained linen over toward Laura, who jumped nervously out of -the way. - -"Well, you needn't wish it on me," she said resentfully, picking up the -handkerchief by the very tip of a corner and presenting it to Billie -with a low bow. "Here, take back your gold----" - -"What are you two whispering about?" demanded Vi, petulantly, for by -this time she was beginning to wish she had not come. - -At her question Laura whirled suddenly about and poked the blood-stained -handkerchief directly beneath Vi's startled nose. - -"There," she said. "Want it?" - -Vi gave one look, screamed, and fled down the stairs. She had gone only -halfway, however, when Laura overtook her and dragged her back. - -"None of that," she cried. "You can't back out now. Besides, we're only -beginning to have some fun." - -"Fun!" groaned Vi, keeping a wary eye on the handkerchief that Laura -still held. "Well, I'm glad I know what to call it." - -"Come on," said Billie, jingling her rusty keys and starting up the -ladder. "Now we'll see whether one of these keys will fit." - -"I hope it doesn't," said Vi, under her breath, but Laura caught her up -sharply. - -"What did you say?" she demanded. - -"Oh--nothing," said Vi. - -By this time Billie was on the top rung of the ladder and her fingers -trembled as she tried to fit the first of the keys into the lock. She -had more courage than Vi, yet almost she echoed the other girl's -wish--that she would not be able to find a key to fit. - -She wanted to see what was on the other side of that locked door, yet -for some reason--perhaps the blood-stained handkerchief--she was afraid -to find out. - -She had tried every key till she came to the next to the last, while -Laura and Vi fidgeted at the foot of the ladder. - -"Won't they fit?" asked Laura, impatiently and in a high-strung tone. - -"Yes," said Billie unexpectedly, as the key slipped into the lock and -turned easily under the pressure of her fingers. She hesitated and -looked down at the two girls before swinging the door wide. - -"Aren't you coming?" she asked, and she could not, for the life of her, -keep a little scared quality out of her voice. - -"Of course," cried Laura, recovering from her surprise--for she had -really not expected that any of Billie's keys would fit--and ascending -the ladder hand over hand. "'Lead on, Macduff, to victory or to death!'" - -Vi groaned again and gingerly put a foot on the ladder. She did not know -which was worse, to remain there by herself or to follow the girls -to--goodness-knew-what. But the squeak of a mouse behind her made her -decide in favor of company, and she scurried in a panic up the ladder. - -Meanwhile Billie and Laura were experiencing rather severe pangs of -something--they could not have told whether it was disappointment or -relief. - -They had braced themselves to find something horrible--or at least -interesting--in the tower room, and they were rather taken aback at -finding themselves confronted with a large amount of nothing at all. - -There seemed to be a great deal of junk scattered about, but in the -gloom of the place they could not even make that out very clearly. - -There were windows all about the tiny room, but they were so encrusted -with ancient dirt and cobwebs that the bright sunlight of the -out-of-doors was reduced to a weird and spooky twilight, which seemed -somehow to correspond to the forlorn aspect of the place. - -"Well," said Laura, drawing a deep breath, "we come up here expecting to -find something interesting and we get--stung!" - -"It does look that way," admitted Billie ruefully. "Seems as if we might -at least have met a good live ghost or two." - -"Live ghost!" sniffed Laura crossly, for she was really feeling very -much injured. "All the ghosts that I ever heard about were as dead as a -doornail." - -"For goodness' sake, stop talking about dead people," said Vi -querulously from the doorway. "If there isn't anything in here--and -thank goodness there isn't--let's go back." - -"Not yet," said Billie. Her eyes, become more accustomed to the dim -light, had lighted upon something interesting among the junk. What had -caught her attention was a large, clumsy-looking thing like a queerly -shaped wooden box. The girls watched her curiously as she bent over to -examine it. - -"You haven't found your ghost, have you?" asked Vi, in a voice that was -meant to be sarcastic. - -"No," said Billie, a thrill of wonder and excitement creeping into her -voice. "But I may have found something! Girls, come here and have a look -at this!" - -The girls picked their way over the rubbish that littered the floor. -What had seemed like a peculiarly shaped box proved on closer inspection -to be some cunningly fashioned wooden machinery. - -The girls looked at each other in awed silence. To them all in an -instant had come the same thrilling thought. - -"The lost invention!" murmured Billie. "And we thought there was nothing -here!" - - - - -CHAPTER XX--STOLEN - - -"Oh, but how do we know?" protested Laura. "It looks like machinery of -some kind, but we have no way of proving that it is the stolen -invention." "No," said Billie, still in a kind of daze. "It may be just -some old worthless thing that has been put up here because it is of no -use to anybody. But then again----" - -"Oh, I think Laura's right," put in Vi, to whom this new find of -Billie's was not very interesting. It seemed absurd to put any value on -that queer-looking thing. And besides, she was anxious to get out of -that musty, ill-smelling place. "I thought of Mrs. Haddon at first too, -but----" - -"Hello! I wonder what this is," Laura interrupted her. There had been -some blue prints lying on the floor near the wooden machinery. In the -poor light they had remained unnoticed until Laura had stumbled upon -them quite by accident. - -In her eagerness, Billie forgot to be polite. She snatched the papers -from her chum and made her way to the nearest dust-begrimed window. - -She scanned the prints eagerly and finally came to the thing she had so -wildly hoped to find. It was only a name, but it told a great deal. - -The blue prints were evidently the design of some sort of machinery, and -down at the foot of one page the designer had put his name--Henry -Haddon. - -"Girls, girls, look!" cried Billie, almost beside herself with -excitement at her discovery. "Now maybe you'll dare to say I'm crazy and -I don't know what I'm talking about. I dreamed of it two nights in -succession, and now my dream has come true----" - -"Well, for goodness' sake, stop waving that thing around and tell us -what you're raving about," commanded Laura, snatching the blue print -from Billie in her turn, while Vi crowded close, looking curiously over -her shoulder. - -"Here! At the bottom of this page!" crowed Billie, pointing out the -name. "See it? Henry Haddon!" - -"Henry Haddon!" repeated Laura excitedly. "Then it looks as if that -really were his invention." - -"It is the knitting machinery model!" cried Vi, forgetting that a moment -ago she had scoffed at the idea. - -"Of course it is, you gooses--I mean you geese," cried Billie, -incoherent in her happiness. "I told you so right along, didn't I? Next -time maybe you'll believe your Uncle Billie." - -"I--guess--yes!" said Laura, still staring at the blue prints as though -she could not believe they were real. "You surely did have the right -idea that time, Billie." - -"Of course I did!" cried Billie impishly, bubbling over with excitement. -"And now I've got an idea that's righter yet. Let's go to Mrs. Haddon -and tell her about it." - -"Agreed!" cried Laura. Then she glanced uncertainly at the blue prints. -"Shall we take these along?" she asked. - -Billie hesitated, then shook her head. - -"No," she said, "I think we had better leave everything just as we found -it." - -So Laura put the important papers back on the spot where she had found -them, or as near to it as she could remember. - -She then backed out of the room and felt her way down the ladder. Vi -followed, treading on her fingers, so that she let go and very nearly -tumbled to the floor. - -Billie came last, for she was to lock the door. - -But a strange thing happened. Either excitement had made Billie's -fingers clumsy or something had really happened to the rusty lock. At -any rate, she could not get the door locked again and after a few -minutes of nervous fumbling, interspersed with remarks from the girls -that were anything but encouraging, she gave up the attempt. - -"Oh, well, we'll be back in a little while, anyway," she said, as she -came down swiftly hand over hand and dropped to the floor beside the -girls. "Come on now, let's hurry and find Mrs. Haddon." - -They scurried down the stairs and were hurrying to their dormitory to -get on coats and hats when a voice hailed them and they stopped -impatiently to find Rose Belser hurrying toward them. - -"Have you heard the latest, girls?" asked the dark-haired girl -excitedly, for once forgetting her sleepy drawl. - -"No," said Billie, trying not to sound as impatient as she felt, while -Laura and Vi frowned openly. - -"It's up on the bulletin board," Rose told them, too full of her own -news to notice their annoyance. "Connie Danvers has lost a gold wrist -watch and Miss Walters is very much upset about it. She says that the -thief, whoever it is, must be found. And she has ordered that no girl -leave the Hall until to-morrow morning." - -The girls looked at each other and groaned. - -"Till to-morrow morning!" said Billie, her face as long as though a -death sentence had just been pronounced upon her. "Oh, why couldn't -Connie have held on to her old watch!" - -Rose's look of surprise was so genuine that it put Billie instantly on -her guard. The chums were not ready yet to take anybody into their -confidence about the new discovery. - -And so she covered her slip as well as she could, and they went on -together to the dormitory, exclaiming sympathetically over Connie's -loss. - -The next morning came at last, however, and as it was Sunday, the girls -were free to go as soon as the morning chapel hour was over. But as Miss -Walters would not allow any girl to leave the building without special -permission from her, the classmates were forced to go to her and tell -her about their invasion of the tower room and their discovery. - -She was displeased that they had not asked her consent before taking -such a step. But she was also very much interested in their story, and -readily gave them her permission to go to Polly Haddon. - -"Bring her back with you, if you can," she said, "and we will all go -together to the tower room." - -"Now for the fun!" cried Laura, as a few minutes later they stepped out -into the crisp air. "Whew! I think we got off lots better than we -expected. I thought Miss Walters would be awfully mad." - -"Probably she would have been if she hadn't had so many other things to -worry about," said Vi. - -"Poor Connie!" said Billie. "It surely is too bad about her watch. It -was a beauty, and she was so proud of it." - -"I hope Miss Walters finds the thief pretty soon," said Laura, frowning. -"Everybody thinks it is one of the girls, and I'm even beginning to feel -guilty myself." - -"Do you think----" Vi began, then flushed as the girls looked at her and -stopped. - -"What?" asked Laura adding, as Vi still hesitated. "Come on--we won't -eat you." - -"Nothing--only--I was wondering if the thief might not be Amanda." - -"Oh, no," cried Billie quickly. "I'm sure it couldn't be, Vi." - -The suggestion from Vi startled her, and it troubled her too, for the -very reason that the same idea had been in her own mind. - -And suddenly Laura spoke up in support of Vi. - -"I shouldn't wonder if Vi is right," she said. "Amanda is mean enough -for anything." - -Billie had no answer for that, and so she said nothing. But she was more -than ever troubled. - -As they neared the little white cottage that had seen so much trouble, -they forgot Amanda in anticipation of Polly Haddon's joy at the good -news they were bringing her. - -They knocked on the door, and the moment it was opened pushed eagerly -inside and turned to face the astonished widow. - -Billie started to speak, but Laura, with her usual impulsiveness, was -before her. - -"We've got good news, Mrs. Haddon," she blurted out. "We've found your -lost invention." - -Billie gasped with dismay as Mrs. Haddon turned deathly white and -grasped the back of a chair for support. - -"Oh, Laura, you shouldn't!" cried Billie, as she put an arm about the -woman and helped her into a chair. "Get some water, quick! There's a -glass in the sink." - -But Mrs. Haddon brushed her impatiently aside. - -"I'm not going to faint," she said brusquely. "Tell me why you said -that. Hurry!" - -But Laura thought she had done enough speechmaking for one day, and it -was Billie who answered the woman's questions. - -"It must be ours," said the latter, at last. "I will go with you and -make sure. Peter? Yes, he will be all right till I get back. He is much -better. I will be ready in a moment." - -She returned in less than a minute, a hat perched carelessly on her head -and a shawl around her shoulders. Her eyes burned bright in her thin -face. - -No one spoke on the way back. Mrs. Haddon, her lips set and her eyes -fixed straight ahead, said not a word, and the girls were too awed by -her emotion to break the silence. - -Miss Walters met them in the hall, said a few words to Mrs. Haddon, -then, seeing that the woman was keyed to the breaking point, led the way -straight to the tower room. - -The girls ran up the ladder ahead of the two older women. The latter -followed more slowly. Billie pushed open the little door and entered the -room. - -Then she started, gasped, rubbed her hand across her eyes to make sure -she was not dreaming. For the spot where the queer wooden machinery had -stood was empty. The invention was gone; and the blue prints were gone, -too! - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--MORE MYSTERY - - -Billie Bradley turned cold all over. To have brought Polly Haddon -here--to have practically promised her a fortune--and then to -find--nothing! - -"Billie! They're gone!" said a voice at her elbow, and she turned -sharply to find Laura and Vi peering inquisitively over her shoulder. - -"I know they're gone," she cried, almost sobbing in her rage and -disappointment "Oh, girls, what, can we do? We can't tell Mrs. -Haddon----" - -"What's this you can't tell me?" asked Polly Haddon herself, and Billie -looked at the woman miserably. - -"The model," she said, her voice almost inaudible. "It was here -yesterday, and now it's gone." - -"_Gone!_" cried Miss Walters sharply. "How can that be? Is it possible -that somebody else is in the habit of visiting this tower?" - -But Mrs. Haddon pushed her aside. - -"Do you mean that the model is gone--again--after bringing me here?" she -cried wildly. "Oh, you could not be so cruel, you could not!" The last -word caught in a sob, and Miss Walters put an arm about her -compassionately. - -"Listen to me a moment," she said, in a gentle voice of authority. "If -the girls are certain that the machinery and the blueprints were here as -late as yesterday----" - -"Oh, we are, we are!" cried Billie eagerly. - -"Then whoever has taken them since could not have got very far away with -them in this short time," she went on reassuringly. "Your husband's -invention--if indeed it was his model the girls found here--must still -be in this neighborhood, perhaps in this very building. Though who," she -added thoughtfully, "in this place could wish to steal such a thing is -indeed a mystery." - -"Oh, Miss Walters!" cried Billie eagerly, "I'm sure nobody here in the -Hall has stolen the invention. Nobody would have any use for it, and -besides, it isn't a thing that could be hidden very easily." - -Suddenly Laura had what she thought was a bright idea. - -"Maybe somebody stole it who had a grudge against Mrs. Haddon," she -suggested. - -Miss Walters looked inquiringly at the woman who had drawn away from her -embrace and was wiping her eyes resignedly. - -"Is there any one you know of who might hold a grudge against your -family?" Miss Walters asked. - -Mrs. Haddon went over to one of the dust-begrimed windows and stood -there for a moment looking out, her fingers tapping a restless tattoo on -the windowpane. Then she slowly shook her head. - -"No, I can't think of any one," she said, adding bitterly: "We were too -poor and unimportant to make enemies of any one. But what does it -matter?" She turned quickly from the window with one of her fierce -changes of mood. "The invention is gone. I was a fool to think that any -good fortune would ever come to me. Let me go home." - -She brushed fiercely past Miss Walters, but the latter put out a gentle -hand and detained her. - -"Wait a little," she begged. Her heart ached for the other woman's -suffering. "Come into my office with me while I make inquiries and find -out if any suspicious person has been seen about here lately. I am -confident," she added with an assurance that reached the other woman, -"that before long we shall be able to recover your property. Will you -trust me and believe that I want to help you?" - -"Yes," said Polly Haddon, faint hope once more stirring in her heart. -"You are more than kind to me." - -With what different emotions the classmates left the tower room from -those with which they had entered it so hopefully only a few minutes -before. - -The girls supposed that now that Miss Walters had taken charge of Mrs. -Haddon's affairs, they would have no further interest in the matter. -But, to their surprise and gratification, Miss Walters motioned them -into her office also. - -Then she summoned the teachers to her one after another and questioned -them carefully as to whom, if anybody, had been seen around Three Towers -since the afternoon before. - -Through it all Mrs. Haddon sat with an expression of utter hopelessness -on her face. Evidently the faint hope that Miss Walters had for the -moment revived had died away again. - -It seemed that none of the teachers had seen anything that might arouse -suspicion, and even the girls were beginning to despair when they were -at last given a clue to work on. - -It was Miss Arbuckle who gave it to them. - -She showed considerable surprise at first at being questioned. But after -wrinkling her forehead thoughtfully for a few minutes she remembered -having seen somebody loitering about the building late on the preceding -afternoon. - -"Could you identify the person?" asked Miss Walters quickly, alert at -once. - -"No," said Miss Arbuckle, hesitantly, "I couldn't be at all certain -because it was dusk and I saw him only from the window. But it looked -like that simple son of Tim Budd, the gardener." - -"Nick Budd!" cried the three girls together, and at the name Polly -Haddon also roused from her reverie. - -"You could not say certainly that it was Nick Budd?" said Miss Walters, -questioningly. - -"No, I couldn't," returned Miss Arbuckle. "But I remember thinking at -the time that the fellow was acting in a rather peculiar manner, and I -even thought of reporting him. I was called away by some duties then, -however, and when I looked from the window again he was gone." - -"Nick Budd!" cried Polly Haddon, in an agitated tone, her hands clasping -and unclasping in her lap. "You asked a while ago if there was anybody -who might bear a grudge against my family, and I said there was no one. -But I had forgotten poor foolish Nick Budd!" - -"Yes, Mrs. Haddon?" prompted Miss Walters, while the girls exchanged -excited glances. - -"At one time my husband employed him as a handy man about the place," -the woman hurried on. "But after a while we noticed that things began to -disappear--things that were worthless to any one else, but dear to us -because of their associations." - -The girls and Miss Walters were intensely interested now. They were -thinking of the numerous petty thefts that had taken place in the Hall -during the past few weeks. Could there be any connection between that -and Polly Haddon's story? - -"My husband charged the simpleton with taking the things," the woman -went on. "He did it gently enough, too, for he was sorry for the poor -fellow, but Nick fell into one of his rages and slammed out of the -house, muttering to himself. He never came back, and we never saw him -again." - -"Then this boy did have some reason for wishing to get even with your -husband," said Miss Walters, all interest. "It begins to look as if he -were the one who stole your invention in the first place. And if this -was really Nick Budd whom Miss Arbuckle saw loitering about the school -yesterday, it is probable he had something to do with its second -disappearance----" she broke off suddenly, for Polly Haddon had risen to -her feet. - -The girls thought they had never seen such a picture of concentrated -fury. She stood clutching the back of a chair fiercely and her eyes -flashed fire. - -"If it is proved that Nick Budd did this thing," she said in a low, -tense voice, "I think I shall--shall----" - -"But you must remember that he is a simpleton and not accountable as -sane people are," put in Miss Walters hastily; but apparently the woman -did not hear her. - -"We must catch Nick Budd and make him confess," she said impatiently: -"Then perhaps we shall find out where he has hidden my property." - -"Miss Walters!" cried Billie excitedly, jumping up, and walking over to -the principal, "I think I know where we can find everything that Nick -Budd has ever stolen." - -"What do you mean?" asked Miss Walters. "Speak quickly, Billie." - -"In Nick Budd's cave!" cried Billie, triumphantly. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII--FIRST PRIZE - - -"Billie, you're a wonder! Come on, let's go!" cried Laura, then clapped -her hand over her mouth and turned a panicky red as she caught Miss -Walters' eye upon her. - -But Miss Walters was looking through and beyond Laura, and her gaze came -quickly back to Billie. Polly Haddon's eyes were fixed on the girl, too, -with passionate intensity. - -"Tell us what you mean, Billie," commanded Miss Walters. "Quickly!" - -Billie, remembering suddenly that Miss Arbuckle was the only one of the -faculty who knew of her adventure with Teddy, was embarrassed for a -moment. But she plunged bravely in and told them the whole story from -beginning to end, sparing no details. - -Miss Walters was intensely interested, and when she had finished even -Polly Haddon looked encouraged. The latter wished to set forth at once -in search of the cave, but Miss Walters proposed a plan that appealed to -everybody, especially the hungry girls. - -"Wait and have lunch with me in my rooms," she said to Mrs. Haddon. "For -it is almost lunch time now. Then we can start to hunt for the cave as -soon as we have finished." - -Mrs. Haddon looked tempted, but she shook her head. - -"There are the children," she said. "And little Peter. There is no one -with them." - -But Miss Arbuckle settled this objection by offering to go over and stay -with the children and see that they were well taken care of during their -mother's absence. - -"I was a governess and sort of children's nurse combined, at one time, -you know," and she smiled graciously upon the mother. "And I assure you -that I know how to care for children." - -Almost upon her words the lunch gong rang, and Miss Walters thereupon -dismissed the girls to the dining-hall. - -"Remember, we will start directly after lunch," she said to them as they -fled. - -"Billy, it's just like a story book or a movie!" cried Vi joyfully, as -they took their places at the table among the noisy, chattering girls. - -"Are you certain you can find the cave again, Billie?" asked Laura, as -she attacked her heaped-up plate of good things ravenously. - -Before Billie could answer Rose Belser leaned across the table and asked -with a drawl where they had been keeping themselves all morning. - -"We've made a snowman," she chuckled. "But we needed Billie's artistic -touch to make the face. I can't get the nose to look right." - -Instinctively the girls glanced out the window and saw that it was -snowing. And they had never noticed it! - -"Why, it's snowing, girls!" remarked Vi brilliantly. "It looks almost -like a blizzard." - -"Are you just waking up?" asked Connie Danvers, a little crossly. Connie -was cross because it was the first time in her intimate friendship with -the girls that they had had a secret from her. "Now I know you're -crazy." - -Billie guessed at Connie's grievance and, reaching over, she pressed the -hand of her classmate under the table. - -"We'll tell you all about everything to-night," she promised, and -Connie's face brightened miraculously. - -The snowstorm did indeed look like the beginning of a blizzard, and as -the girls went to get their wraps they worried not a little for fear -this new development might put an end to their adventure. - -However, Miss Walters decided that they would try it, at least, and Mrs. -Haddon was eagerly anxious to be off. - -"We'll try anything once," whispered Laura to Billie, as they went out -into the already ankle-deep snow, the wind lashing bitingly against -their faces. "Thank goodness, we can die but once!" - -"Die but once is right," said Billie grumpily. She was worried for fear -she would not be able to find the path leading to the cave. - -It would have been hard enough if the ground had been clear, but with -the snow rapidly obliterating every landmark, it was well-nigh -impossible. - -"I wish Teddy were here," she said, half to herself, and her voice was -very wistful. - -"Don't you though!" echoed Laura, heartily. "It seems an age since we've -seen any of the boys." - -"Say, Billie," broke in Vi, who was shivering in the bitter cold despite -her warm furs, "are you sure you are going right? It wouldn't be any fun -to be lost in these lonely woods with maybe a blizzard coming on." - -At this observation Billie stopped and turned to Miss Walters and Polly -Haddon, who were following close behind. - -"I'm sorry," she said, looking up at Miss Walters appealingly. "If it -weren't snowing I might be able to find the way, but as it is I'm afraid -I would only get you all lost. I'm lost myself now." - -"All right, honey. Don't look so distressed about it," said Miss -Walters, patting her kindly on the shoulder. "You would have to know the -way pretty well to be able to find it in this storm. We shall have to -give it up to-day, and try again as soon as we can." - -"Yes, that will be best," said Polly Haddon, through chattering teeth. -Her thin shawl formed scarcely any protection against the freezing -weather. "Thank you all so much for bothering with my affairs. Now I -must get back to the children. Good-bye." - -Before they had fairly realized she was going, she was gone, and the -girls and Miss Walters turned back to the Hall. - -"Bother the old snow," said Laura crossly. "I always liked it before, -but now I hate it." - -They were all glad when the warmth of Three Towers Hall closed in about -them again. Miss Walters said a few words to them about saying nothing -of this affair to any one. Then she dismissed them to the dormitory -while she herself hurried off to do a little work that she had neglected -all day. For around examination time, Miss Walters was not always free, -even on Sunday. - -Some of the girls had seen Billie and Laura and Vi come in with Miss -Walters, and they demanded to know what "all the excitement was about." -And the fact that the girls would not talk made their classmates all the -more curious. - -Connie was the only one to whom they would tell the story, for they knew -that they could trust her as they trusted themselves. - -"And it's still snowing," mourned Billie, as she cleared a space on the -misted window and looked out at the snow-covered world. "It looks as if -we shouldn't get out of here for weeks!" - -Billie's gloomy prophecy was fulfilled. The storm developed into one of -the worst blizzards that part of the country had ever known, and for -almost two weeks the occupants of Three Towers were practically -house-bound. - -It was good that the school boasted a well-stocked larder. Otherwise the -girls might actually have gone hungry. And they wondered a great deal -about Polly Haddon and her little brood. - -"Suppose she hasn't enough in the house to eat?" worried Vi. "Why, they -may starve!" - -"Maybe she used the gold pieces we left her to stock up when she saw the -blizzard coming on," suggested Billie, and the suggestion comforted them -a great deal. - -The day was approaching when those competing for the composition prize -were to hand in their essays. Billie and Laura and Connie and Rose -Belser and the half dozen other girls who had entered the lists were -writing like mad--and biting their pens to bits--in an effort to get -their essays in on time. - -And in the heart of each was the fervent hope that she would be the -winner. Only Amanda had no need to hope. She was sure! The prize was -hers! - -She had carried out her intention of copying her essay straight from the -little musty book. So sure was she that her ruse would not be detected -that she had not bothered to alter a word. And while the others worked, -she smiled. - -At last came the day when the finished essays were to be handed in, and -all day long Miss Walters was closeted in her office with Miss Race and -one or two of the other teachers, reading and tabulating the manuscripts -as they came to her. - -So busy had Billie been in rewriting a phrase here, changing a word -there, that she handed in her essay the very last of all--just a scant -half hour before the time was up. But she was happy, because she knew -that she had given her best effort. - -"I imagine we shall enjoy reading this," Miss Walters remarked to her -associates, tapping Billie's manuscript with a thoughtful finger. -"Billie Bradley has real literary talent." - -The result of the contest was to be announced the next morning in the -auditorium and the prizes to be awarded to the winners. - -When the longed-for, yet dreaded, moment arrived, the girls filed into -the auditorium, the contestants near the front, and almost the entire -school occupying the seats behind them. - -Billie's heart was hammering so loudly that she glanced about her to see -if anybody else seemed to notice it. But the majority of the girls were -babbling away too excitedly to hear anything but themselves. - -Billie was surprised to see that even the girls who were expecting to -hear their fate within the next few moments were talking--chattering -away excitedly, to be sure--but still talking. As for herself, she was -sure she could not have uttered a word just then if her life had -depended upon it. She did want that prize so dreadfully! - -"Cheer up, Billie," whispered Vi, slipping a loyal hand into hers. -"You're not afraid of missing the prize, are you? Why, you couldn't miss -it if you tried." - -Billie did not say anything, but she gripped Vi's hand hard. And she was -still holding on to it when Miss Walters ascended the platform and a -deep hush spread over the room. - -"As you all know," came the clear, sweet voice of the head of Three -Towers Hall, "I have come here this morning to announce the winners of -the composition prize. - -"I and my associates have had difficulty in choosing the winning essays, -for the reason that they are all so excellent. We are only sorry that we -have not a prize to attach to each." - -A buzz broke out in the audience, but when Miss Walters raised her hand -it instantly died down again. - -"And now," she said, "not to keep you any longer in suspense, we will -announce the winners." - -Billie's grip on Vi's hand tightened till it hurt. - -Then into the tense silence Miss Walters threw the bomb of her -announcement. - -"The first prize goes to Amanda Peabody," she said. "Will she please -step up upon the platform?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII--DISGRACED - - -For a moment there was intense silence while Amanda rose triumphantly -and flounced up to the platform. - -Then an amazed, angry buzz rose from the audience of indignant girls. -Amanda, who was proverbially stupid, to have taken the prize from some -of the brightest girls in the school! It was impossible--incredible! And -yet it was only too true! - -Miss Walters, with a few words of congratulation, handed the prize--a -fine set of books--to Amanda, and the latter swept haughtily back to her -seat, triumph in every line of her figure as she passed the other -pupils. - -She had beaten Billie Bradley at last! And her revenge was sweeter than -even she had dreamed it would be. - -But Billie, tears of anger and disappointment stinging her eyes, felt -sure that she had not been beaten fairly. Amanda had played a trick on -her, on the rest of the contestants for the prize, on Miss Walters -herself. But, in Teddy's vocabulary, Amanda had "gotten away with it." -The prize was in her possession. - -"It's a shame," she heard in angry protest all about her. - -"She never did it honestly." - -"Somebody ought to tell Miss Walters. She doesn't know Amanda as well as -we do." - -But Miss Walters had raised her hand for silence, and in a few seconds -the angry murmurs died down again. - -"I have the pleasure of awarding the second prize," the principal -announced, "to Beatrice Bradley. Will you step up on the platform, -Billie?" - -The second prize! She didn't want the second prize, Billie told herself, -when Amanda had come in first. To march up there on the platform with -that girl's gloating eyes upon her---- - -But Vi and Laura were pulling her out of her seat, pushing her out into -the aisle--and while Billie hesitated Miss Walters had impatiently -repeated her summons. - -Someway Billie found her way to the platform, thanked Miss Walters -incoherently for the fine volume of poetry which was the second prize, -and stumbled back to happy oblivion among her schoolmates. - -"It's a shame, honey," Laura whispered in her ear, generously forgetting -her own disappointment in Billie's. "But never mind, you got the second -prize anyway--which was more than the rest of us did," she added, with a -little stab of regret at her own failure. - -"And you would have won the first prize if it hadn't been for that cat," -added Vi fiercely. - -Billie pressed their hands gratefully and glanced for the first time at -her prize. - -"I'd like to throw it away!" she cried fiercely. - -"Sh-h," whispered Vi, for Miss Walters was making an interesting -announcement. - -"The winning compositions will now be read," she said. "Miss Arbuckle -has volunteered to give us that pleasure." - -There was a great clapping of hands as Miss Arbuckle stepped on the -platform and smiled down at them. For the little teacher was a great -favorite with the girls. - -"We will read Amanda's composition first," she said, "as it has had the -distinction of winning the first prize." - -Again there was tense silence in the Hall. The girls were agog with -curiosity to hear this wonderful composition which had been written by -one of the notoriously stupid girls of the school. - -As for Amanda, she had not foreseen this event. She had not expected to -hear her stolen composition read aloud, and before all this assembly of -stern young critics. The prospect made her a trifle nervous, but her -smile was as proudly triumphant as ever. - -Her chief concern was with Eliza. For the girl was so white and scared -that she threatened to give the deception away. - -Amanda gave her a sharp nudge with her elbow. - -"Cheer up, will you?" she muttered fiercely. "You're not at a funeral." - -Miss Arbuckle began to read, and as she read the well-rounded phrases, -the telling metaphors, the girls became more than ever stupefied with -astonishment. - -"Could it be," they asked themselves incredulously, "that Amanda had -remarkable literary ability that they had never suspected? Could she -really have written a thing like that?" - -The same thought seemed to be in Miss Arbuckle's mind, for as she read -on her brow became clouded and she paused now and then as though she -were trying to recollect something. - -Finally she stopped altogether, looked across at Amanda for a thoughtful -moment, then laid the manuscript down and turned to Miss Walters. She -said something that the girls could not catch, then hurried from the -room. - -This was something no one had counted upon. Amanda, her triumphant smile -gone at last, quaked as she heard again the excited buzz of the girls -about her. - -Miss Walters' voice rose over the murmur, clear and very grave. - -"Miss Arbuckle thinks she has made a discovery," she said. "She will be -back in a moment, and until then I must ask that there be absolute -silence in the room." - -Miss Sara Walters possessed that rare gift of authority that needed no -raising of the voice or undue emphasis to command obedience. - -Instantly the murmuring stopped and the girls waited in breathless -silence for Miss Arbuckle's return. - -They did not have to wait long. A moment later the teacher reentered the -room, holding a book in her hand, the sight of which made Amanda's -craven heart sink in consternation. - -The book looked like an exact copy of the one from which she had copied -her "original" prize composition! - -"Miss Walters," said Miss Arbuckle in a voice which indignation made -vibrant, "I am sorry to have to admit that one of the students of Three -Towers Hall has been guilty of so disgraceful an act. But the -composition that I have just read, the essay that was handed in as -original by Amanda Peabody, has been copied word for word from this -book. - -"It is an old book that has been in my possession for years--was my -father's before it was mine--and doubtless the girl thought herself -perfectly safe in copying from it. Here is the passage." She had been -marking a place with her finger, and now she opened the book at the -place and handed it to Miss Walters to read. - -What a hideous minute for Amanda! If she had been awaiting a death -sentence she could hardly have felt more terrified. - -To be publicly disgraced, to have all the girls laughing at her, -gloating over her---- - -With intense gravity Miss Walters closed the book and laid it on the -table. Amanda knew that her moment had come. - -"Amanda," said Miss Walters sternly, "will you please stand up in your -place?" - -Amanda stood up, conscious of a score of curious and contemptuous -glances focused upon her. Her heart was beating suffocatingly, her hands -were clenched tight at her side. - -"You have been guilty to-day," Miss Walters' clear voice pronounced -sentence, "of blackening the good name of Three Towers Hall by a most -disgraceful act. But by your wretched duplicity you have injured -yourself far more than you have injured any one else. You will go to my -office. I will see you there." - -There was intense silence while Amanda, her head hanging, walked from -the room. Then the eager murmur rose once more, but again Miss Walters -lifted her hand for silence. - -"I am sorry," she said. "More sorry than I can express that such a thing -could have happened here. Of course the first prize will now go to -Beatrice Bradley and I will decide later to whom the second prize -belongs. That is all." With a little gesture she dismissed them and she -herself walked quickly from the room. - -Then the riot that had been suppressed so long broke loose and the girls -formed into little groups talking excitedly and all at once about the -dramatic turn events had taken. - -Billie, the center of a little group of her own, was fairly overwhelmed -with congratulations. - -"We knew all along that you should have been the winner!" - -"To think that Amanda should try to get away with a thing like that!" -said Laura, disgustedly. - -"She might have, just the same," Connie reminded her. "It was just luck -that Miss Arbuckle happened to have that book." - -"My, but I bet you're happy, Billie Bradley!" sighed Vi. "I shouldn't -let anybody speak to me if I were in your place." - -"What's the matter, honey?" asked Laura, regarding Billie's sober face -curiously. "I say, cheer up, old dear. What have _you_ got to gloom -about?" - -"I was just thinking about Amanda," said Billie, with all her sweet -sympathy for the unfortunate. "I was wondering how it would feel to be -in her shoes now." - -"Out, out upon such doleful thoughts," Laura sang out airily. But -Billie, who had turned toward the window, suddenly clutched her by the -arm. - -"Look!" she said, excitedly. "There's Nick Budd!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV--TRIUMPH - - -Before her classmates knew what she was about or had fairly taken in -what she had said, Billie had darted from the room and was flying toward -the dormitory. - -"She's crazy again," cried Vi. "Come on," and she and Laura and Connie -flew after her, overtaking her as she reached the stairs. - -"What's the big idea?" gasped Laura, as they ran together down the hall -toward the dormitory. "What do you expect to do to poor Nick--sandbag -him?" - -"Something like that," returned Billie, slipping hurriedly into her coat -and hat and motioning impatiently for the girls to do the same. "If we -can only get hold of him we may be able to frighten him into telling us -where the machinery is." - -"Oh, and maybe I'll be able to get my watch back!" added Connie, pulling -a dark cap down over her fluffy hair and carefully adjusting it at the -right angle. - -"We won't get anything if you don't hurry," said Billie, regarding her -impatiently. "What do you think you're going to, anyway? A party?" - -"You had better put on your leggings," suggested Vi, looking doubtfully -at the rubbers Billie had pulled on over her shoes. "The snow's awfully -deep." - -"Haven't time," cried Billie, adding distractedly: "For mercy sake, -hurry! While you girls are dolling up for a party, Nick Budd will be -gone." - -At this dreadful thought the girls stopped fussing and followed Billie -hurriedly down the stairs. They slowed down in the lower hall, however, -for there they were apt to meet a teacher, and undue haste might be -thought suspicious by one of these "unreasonable beings." - -At sight of Nick Budd, a plan had come to Billie. She remembered how -terrified he had seemed when he had found Teddy and her in the cave that -day and thought in his crazy mind that they had come to arrest him. - -So she was going to take a chance of so frightening him with a threat of -arrest that he would confess, and perhaps even be prevailed upon to lead -them to the cave. - -In case this plan should fail, she had not an idea in the world what she -would do next. But the plan did not fail. It worked more perfectly than -she had dared to hope. - -They caught up to the simpleton just as he was sneaking around to the -janitor's entrance of the school, and the fellow shrank from them like a -frightened animal. - -"Wh-what do you want?" he stammered, his hands out as though to ward -them off. "I haven't done nothin'. Ye can't arrest me. I haven't done -nothin', I tell you." His terror was pitiful, but Billie followed up her -advantage ruthlessly while the girls stood by in admiring silence. - -"You _have_ done something," she told him sternly, while he cowered -still further back from her. "You've stolen things--lots of things. And -we _will_ have you arrested----" - -"Oh no--oh no," he cried out, fairly gibbering in his terror and -slinking further back against the wall. "Ye're tryin' to scare me. I -haven't done nothin', I tell ye." - -But Billie took him by the sleeve and shook him as she would a bad -child. - -"I tell you I _know_," she cried, conviction in her tone that carried -even to the poor muddled brain of the simpleton. "And I know where they -are, too. They are in your cave, hidden away. Every-last-one-of-them!" - -Of course Billie was taking a big chance, but the shot went home. - -The simpleton stared at her for a moment out of his blood-shot eyes -while his big mouth dropped open. Then he began to cry, great tears that -ran down his grimy face and made crooked streaks upon it. - -It was an indescribably terrible and pitiful sight, the poor silly -fellow in his abject terror, and ordinarily Billie would have felt sorry -for him. But she thought of Polly Haddon, and the thought gave her -courage. Polly Haddon had suffered, and now if it was this poor -simpleton's turn, it was no more than he deserved, after all. - -"Listen to me carefully," she said, pulling at his sleeve again and -speaking very distinctly. "If you will take us to the cave and promise -to give back everything you have stolen to the people you have stolen -from, we will try to keep you from being arrested." - -"You won't put me in jail?" jabbered the simpleton. "You won't let the -policemen get me?" - -Billie shook her head, adding quickly: "But you must take us to the cave -right away and help us bring back the things you have stolen. Otherwise -we will have you arrested to-night." - -They were hardly prepared for his sudden acceptance of the ultimatum. He -turned, with the swiftness that had surprised Billie and Teddy before, -and strode off through the heavy snow, the girls, after a minute of -indecision, following. - -"What do you suppose Miss Walters will say?" Laura whispered in Billie's -ear. "Do you suppose she will mind our running away like this?" - -"I don't know," answered Billie, adding with a hint of premature triumph -in her voice: "I don't imagine she will say anything though if we come -home with the knitting machinery models, the blue prints, and an armful -of stolen things besides." - -"Oh, if I can only get back my watch, I'll be happy," sighed Connie, as -she plodded along beside Vi. - -"'If' is right," said Laura, ruefully. "We haven't got anything yet, you -know." - -"Now who's the wet blanket?" cried Billie gayly. She was feeling -amazingly happy and confident all of a sudden. For had not she just won -the first prize for the best composition? After that she felt that she -could accomplish anything. - -It was no easy task to make their way through the woods. Nick Budd -trudged along sturdily, hardly looking at the girls. - -"He may be simple-minded, but he is as strong as a horse--at least, when -it comes to walking," remarked Laura in a whisper. - -"Many simple-minded folks are strong," answered Billie. "Why, some -lunatics are noted for their strength--I once heard my father say so." - -They had to pass over an exceedingly rough rise of ground and then down -through a hollow where the bushes grew close together. Here the walking -was very uneven and Connie gave a sudden cry of pain. - -"What's the matter?" demanded Billie quickly, and came to a halt beside -her classmate. - -"I slipped into a hole and I--I guess I wrenched my ankle," and Connie -made a wry face. - -"Can't you go on?" questioned Vi. - -"I--I guess so, but I'll do a little limping," was Connie's reply. - -"We'll have to be careful," warned Billie. "We don't want to hurt -ourselves if we can help it." - -After an hour of trudging through the snow they came at last to the -twig-entwined entrance to Nick's cave. Luckily the simpleton had beaten -a sort of path through the snow from Three Towers to the cave--a fact -which showed that he had made frequent visits to the school--or the -girls almost surely could not have made the trip. - -Nick pulled aside the twigs that concealed the entrance and dived -inside, leaving the girls to follow as best they could. - -But the girls did not follow--immediately. They were no cowards, but the -sight of that yawning dark mouth was enough to make them hesitate. And -besides, there was a simpleton at the other end of that dark passage, a -simpleton who might be mad enough by this time to do any desperate -thing. - -"You go first, Billie," Vi urged nervously. "He is afraid of you----" - -But at that moment a dancing light flickered down the dark passage and -immediately Nick Budd himself appeared, carrying a lighted candle which -he carefully shielded from the wind. - -The terror had not left his face, and he looked at Billie abjectly, like -a beaten dog. - -"Will ye come in?" he asked in a barely audible voice. "Or shall I bring -the things out here?" - -But as the latter course would give the simpleton an excellent chance to -retain some of his loot, Billie replied firmly that they would come in -and see for themselves. - -Vi made a noise that sounded something like a groan, and Connie echoed -it pathetically. But they joined the queer little procession just the -same, following Nick Budd down the dark passage to the still darker -cave, guided only by the flaring light of his one candle. - -It was a dangerous thing for the girls to do. The simpleton, with the -cunning of the mentally-deficient, might have decided to attack them all -there in the darkness of the cave. And he would have had a good chance -of doing it, too. - -But the gods that favor the daring watched over the girls that day and -brought them safely through their adventure. - -Billie had evidently thoroughly cowed the simpleton, and his one thought -was to get rid of his stolen goods as quickly as possible and thus evade -the dreadful prison that loomed more horrible to him than death. - -There in a corner of the cave the girls found the knitting machinery -model and the precious blue prints, besides a great pile of small -trinkets that comprised pretty nearly everything that had been stolen -from the girls during the last few weeks. - -They were no more eager to linger in the cave than Nick Budd was to have -them. So they eagerly pocketed as many of the trinkets as they -could--Connie snapping the precious recovered wrist watch about her -wrist with as much joy as though it had been three times as valuable as -it really was--and Billie, taking the candle from Nick Budd's fingers, -ordered him to carry the wooden machinery. She herself took charge of -the blue prints. - -When they had reached the outside world once more, Billie blew out the -candle, threw it into the cave, and readjusted the twigs at the entrance -as best she could. - -Then she ordered Nick Budd to lead the way back to the Hall. This the -simpleton did, although he sometimes staggered under the weight he -carried and several times had to put his burden down. - -But in spite of the delays and the cold, the return journey seemed short -to the girls, for they were triumphantly happy and chattered like -magpies all the way back. - -"I've got my wrist watch! I've got my wrist watch!" crowed Connie over -and over again till the girls got tired of hearing her and Laura asked -her if she would mind changing her tune. - -"And won't the girls be surprised when we tell them what sleuths we -are," added Vi. - -"Humph," sniffed Laura. "Billie is the real detective. We're only--what -do you call 'em?--'also rans.' We come in at the end and clap noisily." - -"Nonsense," laughed Billie. "I couldn't have done a thing without you -girls. Look out," she cried sharply, as Nick Budd stumbled and almost -dropped his load. "If you should break that thing, Nick Budd, I'd murder -you." But this last was delivered in an undertone. The poor simpleton -had troubles enough without being threatened. - -"Oh," giggled Laura, incorrigibly, "ain't she the vicious thing?" - -One would have thought that the girls had had about enough excitement -that day, but it seemed that fate still held a little more in store for -them. - -They were coming up the winding path that led to the Hall when they saw -a black-clad figure that looked strangely familiar hurrying on before -them. - -"Isn't that Polly Haddon?" asked Vi, eagerly. "Yes, it is. Oh, what -luck!" - -She was about to call out, but Billie stopped her. - -"We'll want to break it to her gently," she warned, but her warning came -too late. Polly Haddon had heard their voices and had glanced back -indifferently. - -Then, recognizing the girls, she turned and came hurrying toward them. -At sight of her, Nick Budd dropped his burden in the snow and ran for -all he was worth back the way he had come. - -Billie tried to put herself between Polly Haddon and that bulky object -in the snow, but once more she was too late. For the woman had seen. - -With a little cry, Polly Haddon crumpled suddenly and lay out in the -snow, as inert as a bundle of old clothes. - -"Good gracious!" cried Laura frantically. "Now just when everything is -beautiful and lovely, she's gone and died!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXV--PRETTY FROCKS - - -But Polly Haddon had not died. One very seldom does--of happiness. Some -way the girls managed to get her inside the Hall and administer hot -drinks and hot food and in a surprisingly short time she was herself -again. - -Not quite herself, for she was beautified and transfigured with -happiness into a very different Polly Haddon from the one the girls had -known. - -Miss Walters was summoned and made her come into her own private rooms. -Of course the girls went also, and while Mrs. Haddon was stretched -luxuriously on a couch in Miss Walters' sitting-room, Billie told how -she had frightened the simpleton into confessing his guilt and restoring -the stolen goods. - -Billie was so modest about her leading part in the affair that Laura was -forced to interrupt occasionally, and, disregarding Billie's frowns, add -a bit of explanation here and there that enabled her audience to -visualize the thing just as it had happened. - -The machinery model had been brought inside and deposited in one of the -study halls, and now Miss Walters asked Mrs. Haddon what she wished done -with it. - -"We can keep it here for you, in the big school safe," she suggested, -"or we can have it carried over to your house, just as you wish." - -"Oh no, leave it here," said Polly Haddon quickly. "I will notify that -Philadelphia knitting company that the invention has been recovered, and -if they still wish to buy it, it probably will not remain here long. Oh, -how can I thank you all----" her voice broke, and for a little while all -of them felt a bit uncomfortable while Polly Haddon sobbed out her -happiness and gratitude. - -It was over at last, however, and the girls were free to go back to -their dormitory and the curiosity of their friends. - -Here, perched on the bed with Connie and Vi, Laura gave a graphic -account of everything just as it had happened to a sympathetic audience -of some twenty girls. - -She rang Billie's praises to such an extent that the poor girl tried to -hide herself in an inconspicuous corner, only to be dragged forth into -the limelight again by a couple of laughing and heartless maidens. - -"You get up there where you belong," cried one of them, shoving Billie -up into the center of the bed which was already over-crowded with -giggling girls. "Don't you know that you're a real, honest-to-goodness -heroine?" - -"And for the second time to-day," drawled Rose Belser, her eyes fixed a -little enviously upon Billie's pretty, flushed face. "Wasn't it enough -to win the prize, without going and getting yourself in the limelight -_again_?" - -Laura and Vi flushed angrily, for there was a little malice under the -question. But Billie took it all good-naturedly. - -"Well, I didn't do it on purpose--not the last part, anyway," she said. - -"We know you didn't, honey," said Connie, ruffling Billie's dark curls -fondly. "You're just naturally talented." - -"By the way," asked Laura, after an interval of skylarking, "does -anybody know what happened to Amanda?" - -"She was suspended," replied one of the girls. - -"And I thought it was a pity she wasn't expelled," spoke up another. - -"Poor Eliza!" drawled Rose. "I wonder what she will do without her -master." - -"Does anybody know who won the second prize?" asked Laura carelessly. - -"What a queer question to ask," said Caroline Brant, who had been -dreaming about the thesis she was going to write and had hardly heard a -word of the conversation. "_You_ did, of course!" - -It took a little time for this to sink in, for Laura had long ago given -up hope of winning a prize for herself. But when it did finally beat its -way into her mind she straightway proceeded to turn the place upside -down in her hilarity. - -She found Billie's sewing basket, dumped out its contents, and turned it -upside down on her head for a crown. - -Then she draped a bedspread about her shoulders, queen fashion, and two -of her classmates caught up the dangling ends that formed a train. - -Then they marched through the halls crying, "Way for the queen!" and -gathering a crowd of giggling girls as they went. - -"What's it all about?" - -"Queen indeed! Just look at her with that workbasket on her head!" - -"They are having the sport because Laura took the second prize in that -composition contest." - -"Oh, that's it, is it? Well, I'm glad they showed up Amanda--and Billie -Bradley certainly deserved the first prize." - -The merriment grew louder, and presently the crowd made Laura mount a -stand and deliver what they called "an oration." - -"Tell us about making linen dusters for the Laplanders," suggested one -girl. - -"Or overcoats for the heathens in Africa," suggested another. - -"Or how to make sponge cake from live sponges." - -"Or why Washington didn't use submarines when his army crossed the -Delaware." - -"I can talk but I can't make a speech," declared Laura. "In other words, -I could say something if I could only frame my speech, properly--that -is----" - -"If she could only get her tongue to working," broke in Vi, and at this -the assembled girls roared. - -It was only when rumor said that Miss Walters was coming their way that -the hilarious party broke up and scurried for home and safety. - -"Take off that ridiculous thing," cried Billie, jerking at the -bedspread, herself weak from laughing. "And give me back my work basket, -woman, before Miss Walters catches you and sends you after Amanda." - -"Goodness," said Laura, meekly handing Billie her property, "do you -think she would? It may suit Amanda fine to be suspended, but I'm more -comfortable the way I am." - -And so the time wore on with studies and lessons and fun until the girls -woke up one day to find that the summer holidays were almost upon them. - -Mrs. Haddon had sold the knitting machinery model to the Philadelphia -concern at a price that was a fortune to her. - -The little white cottage had been remodeled and furnished prettily, and -Polly Haddon had grown prosperous and handsome and oh, so happy. - -But the most remarkable thing to the girls was the change in Mary and -Isabel and Peter Haddon. The children, who had been such sorry little -waifs in their poverty, had grown almost beautiful in the days of their -prosperity. Polly Haddon's pride in them and their pretty clothes was -almost pathetic. - -The North Bend girls and Connie were often visitors at the little -cottage, and sometimes the boys went with them on their visits and were -treated to a dinner of waffles and maple syrup that, to quote Chet, -"would make an Indian's hair curl." - -And now, as the girls realized how fast the time was flying, they -conceived the idea of giving a party. Not a small party, but a real one -with cake and ice-cream and snappers and everything. - -"I wonder," breathed Vi daringly, "if Miss Walters would mind if we -should ask a few of the boys--just a very few, you know." - -"There would have to be enough to go around," interposed Billie. - -"I should say so!" said Connie with emphasis. "Especially as Billie is -sure to have at least two of them. I want to dance with Teddy and Paul -Martinson once or twice myself, my dear," she said, eyeing the laughing -Billie sternly. - -"And I'm quite sure dear Rose will, too--especially Teddy," murmured -Laura, maliciously. - -They found that Miss Walters was quite willing to let them have the -party and the boys, too--provided the latter did not stay too late--and -then the plans began in earnest. - -They sent invitations to about twenty of the boys at the Academy and the -invitations were accepted promptly and eagerly. - -About two days before the great event, the girls decorated the two big -sitting-rooms on the ground floor which Miss Walters had said they could -use, and when they had finished no ballroom ever looked prettier--even -the girls said so. - -Then at last came the morning of the great day, then the afternoon and -then--the evening--and time for the girls to dress. - -They had brought out their best party frocks for the occasion and the -closest chums had compared colors carefully so that they would be sure -not to "clash." Billie was to wear pale green net with a touch of pink, -Laura light blue, Connie had chosen a lovely rose pink that went well -with her fluffy fairness, and Vi had decided on golden yellow that made -her look like a queen. Rose Belser was dressed in an expensive black -frock that was far too old for her but that set off her dark prettiness -admirably. - -There was Nellie Bane in white, and a number of other girls were in -pretty frocks of varied hues. All were flushed and laughing and excited, -and their happiness made every one of them pretty. - -"Oh, aren't I beautiful?" cried Laura with engaging frankness as she -pirouetted before the mirror. Then she turned to Billie and hugged her -rapturously. "And you're gorgeous, honey," she cried. "I see where we -don't get even a boy apiece to-night." - -The boys arrived early. It was lucky that Billie could dance with only -one boy at a time--or there might not have been "enough to go around." - -"I say, Billie," Teddy cried once, waltzing her over into a corner and -gazing at her wonderingly, "I never knew you could look like that. What -is it, anyway? This green and pink thing?" lifting a piece of filmy net -gingerly between his thumb and finger. - -Billie looked up impishly in his face while one foot kept time with the -music. - -"Don't ask _me_," she said. "It's because I'm so happy, I guess. Oh, -come on, Teddy, let's dance!" - -It was some time later that the three classmates happened to find -themselves together and alone. - -"Desoited!" cried Laura dramatically. "Where's yours, Billie?" - -"Gone to get me some ice-cream," said Billie. - -"Wonderful," cried Laura. "So has mine!" - -"And mine!" added Vi. - -They giggled happily for a minute and then Billie reached out and put an -arm about each of her chums. She hugged them close, regardless of pretty -frocks. - -"Girls," she said contentedly, "I think I'm the very happiest girl in -the world." - -"Except me," said Laura. - -"And me!" echoed Vi. "And to think----" she added, after they had -contentedly watched the happy crowd for a few moments. "To think that in -a few short weeks vacation will be here." - -"Well," said Laura decidedly, "if we have any more fun this summer than -we've had this winter, we'll have to go _some_!" - -"We shall indeed," said Billie, happily. - - - THE END. - - - - - BILLIE BRADLEY SERIES - - By JANET D. WHEELER - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -1. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCE, _or The Queer Homestead at Cherry -Corners_ - - Billie Bradley fell heir to an old homestead that was unoccupied - and located far away in a lonely section of the country. How - Billie went there, accompanied by some of her chums, and what - queer things happened, go to make up a story no girl will want - to miss. - -2. BILLIE BRADLEY AT THREE-TOWERS HALL, _or Leading a Needed Rebellion_ - - Three-Towers Hall was a boarding school for girls. For a short - time after Billie arrived there all went well. But then the head - of the school had to go on a long journey and she left the girls - in charge of two teachers, sisters, who believed in severe - discipline and in very, very plain food and little of it--and - then there was a row! The girls wired for the head to come - back--and all ended happily. - -3. BILLIE BRADLEY ON LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND, _or The Mystery of the Wreck_ - - One of Billie's friends owned a summer bungalow on Lighthouse - Island, near the coast. The school girls made up a party and - visited the Island. There was a storm and a wreck, and three - little children were washed ashore. They could tell nothing of - themselves, and Billie and her chums set to work to solve the - mystery of their identity. - -4. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES, _or The Secret of the Locked -Tower_ - - Billie and her chums come to the rescue of several little - children who have broken through the ice. There is the mystery - of a lost invention, and also the dreaded mystery of the locked - school tower. - -5. BILLIE BRADLEY AT TWIN LAKES, _or Jolly Schoolgirls Afloat and -Ashore_ - - A tale of outdoor adventure in which Billie and her chums have a - great variety of adventures. They visit an artists' colony and - there fall in with a strange girl living with an old boatman who - abuses her constantly. Billie befriended Hulda and the mystery - surrounding the girl was finally cleared up. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE BARTON BOOKS FOR GIRLS - By MAY HOLLIS BARTON - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -May Hollis Barton is a new writer for girls who is bound to win instant -popularity. Her style is somewhat of a mixture of that of Louise M. -Alcott and Mrs. L. T. Meade, but thoroughly up-to-date in plot and -action. Clean tales that all girls will enjoy reading. - -1. THE GIRL FROM THE COUNTRY, _or Laura Mayford's City Experiences_ - - Laura was the oldest of five children and when daddy got sick - she felt she must do something. She had a chance to try her luck - in New York, and there the country girl fell in with many - unusual experiences. - -2. THREE GIRL CHUMS AT LAUREL HALL, _or The Mystery of the School by the -Lake_ - - When the three chums arrived at the boarding school they found - the other students in the grip of a most perplexing mystery. How - this mystery was solved, and what good times the girls had, both - in school and on the lake, go to make a story no girl would care - to miss. - -3. NELL GRAYSON'S RANCHING DAYS, _or A City Girl in the Great West_ - - Showing how Nell, when she had a ranch girl visit her in Boston, - thought her chum very green, but when Nell visited the ranch in - the great West she found herself confronting many conditions of - which she was totally ignorant. A stirring outdoor story. - -4. FOUR LITTLE WOMEN OF ROXBY, _or The Queer Old Lady Who Lost Her Way_ - - Four sisters are keeping house and having trouble to make both - ends meet. One day there wanders in from a stalled express train - an old lady who cannot remember her identity. The girls take the - old lady in, and, later, are much astonished to learn who she - really is. - -5. PLAIN JANE AND PRETTY BETTY, _or The Girl Who Won Out_ - - The tale of two girls, one plain but sensible, the other pretty - but vain. Unexpectedly both find they have to make their way in - the world. Both have many trials and tribulations. A story of a - country town and then a city. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES - - By ALICE B. EMERSON - - _12mo. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. Her -adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of every -reader. - -Ruth Fielding is a character that will live in juvenile fiction. - - 1. RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL - 2. RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOODHALL - 3. RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP - 4. RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT - 5. RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH - 6. RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND - 7. RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM - 8. RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES - 9. RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES - 10. RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE - 11. RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE - 12. RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE - 13. RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS - 14. RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT - 15. RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND - 16. RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST - 17. RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST - 18. RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE - 19. RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING - 20. RUTH FIELDING IN THE FAR NORTH - 21. RUTH FIELDING AT GOLDEN PASS - 22. RUTH FIELDING IN ALASKA - - - - - THE BETTY GORDON SERIES - - By ALICE B. EMERSON - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -A series of stories by Alice B. Emerson which are bound to make this -writer more popular than ever with her host of girl readers. - -1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE FARM, _or The Mystery of a Nobody_ - - At twelve Betty is left an orphan. - -2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON, _or Strange Adventures in a Great City_ - - Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her uncle and has - several unusual adventures. - -3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL, _or The Farm That Was Worth a -Fortune_ - - From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil fields of - our country. A splendid picture of the oil field operations of - today. - -4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL, _or The Treasure of Indian Chasm_ - - Seeking treasures of Indian Chasm makes interesting reading. - -5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP, _or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne_ - - At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a mystery - involving a girl whom she had previously met in Washington. - -6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK, _or School Chums on the Boardwalk_ - - A glorious outing that Betty and her chums never forgot. - -7. BETTY GORDON AND HER SCHOOL CHUMS, _or Bringing the Rebels to Terms_ - - Rebellious students, disliked teachers and mysterious robberies - make a fascinating story. - -8. BETTY GORDON AT RAINBOW RANCH, _or Cowboy Joe's Secret_ - - Betty and her chums have a grand time in the saddle. - -9. BETTY GORDON IN MEXICAN WILDS, _or The Secret of the Mountains_ - - Betty receives a fake telegram and finds both Bob and herself - held for ransom in a mountain cave. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE RADIO GIRLS SERIES - - BY MARGARET PENROSE - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -A new and up-to-date series taking in the activities of several bright -girls who become interested in radio. The stories tell of thrilling -exploits, out-door life and the great part the Radio plays in the -adventures of the girls and in solving their mysteries. Fascinating -books that girls of all ages will want to read. - -1. THE RADIO GIRLS OF ROSELAWN, _or A Strange Message from the Air_ - - Showing how Jessie Norwood and her chums became interested in - radiophoning, how they gave a concert for a worthy local - charity, and how they received a sudden and unexpected call for - help out of the air. A girl wanted as witness in a celebrated - law case disappears, and the radio girls go to the rescue. - -2. THE RADIO GIRLS ON THE PROGRAM, _or Singing and Reciting at the -Sending Station_ - - When listening in on a thrilling recitation or a superb concert - number who of us has not longed to "look behind the scenes" to - see how it was done? The girls had made the acquaintance of a - sending station manager and in this volume are permitted to get - on the program, much to their delight. A tale full of action and - fun. - -3. THE RADIO GIRLS ON STATION ISLAND, _or The Wireless from the Steam -Yacht_ - - In this volume the girls travel to the seashore and put in a - vacation on an island where is located a big radio sending - station. The big brother of one of the girls owns a steam yacht - and while out with a pleasure party those on the island receive - word by radio that the yacht is on fire. A tale thrilling to the - last page. - -4. THE RADIO GIRLS AT FOREST LODGE, _or The Strange Hut in the Swamp_ - - The Radio Girls spend several weeks on the shores of a beautiful - lake and with their radio get news of a great forest fire. It - also aids them in rounding up some undesirable folks who occupy - the strange hut in the swamp. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE GIRL SCOUT SERIES - - By LILIAN GARIS - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -The highest ideals of girlhood as advocated by the foremost -organisations of America form the background for these stories and while -unobtrusive there is a message in every volume. - -1. THE GIRL SCOUT PIONEERS, _or Winning the First B. C._ - - A story of the True Tred Troop in a Pennsylvania town. Two - runaway girls, who want to see the city, are reclaimed through - troop influence. The story is correct in scout detail. - -2. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT BELLAIRE, _or Maid Mary's Awakening_ - - The story of a timid little maid who is afraid to take part in - other girls' activities, while working nobly alone for high - ideals. How she was discovered by the Bellaire Troop and came - into her own as "Maid Mary" makes a fascinating story. - -3. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT SEA CREST, _or The Wig Wag Rescue_ - - Luna Land, a little island by the sea, is wrapt in a mysterious - seclusion, and Kitty Scuttle, a grotesque figure, succeeds in - keeping all others at bay until the Girl Scouts come. - -4. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT CAMP COMALONG, _or Peg of Tamarack Hills_ - - The girls of Bobolink Troop spend their summer on the shores of - Lake Hocomo. Their discovery of Peg, the mysterious rider, and - the clearing up of her remarkable adventures afford a vigorous - plot. - -5. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT ROCKY LEDGE, _or Nora's Real Vacation_ - - Nora Blair is the pampered daughter of a frivolous mother. Her - dislike for the rugged life of Girl Scouts is eventually changed - to appreciation, when the rescue of little Lucia, a woodland - waif, becomes a problem for the girls to solve. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE LINGER-NOT SERIES - - By AGNES MILLER - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -This new series of girls' books is in a new style of story writing. The -interest is in knowing the girls and seeing them solve the problems that -develop their character. Incidentally, a great deal of historical -information is imparted. - -1. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE MYSTERY HOUSE, _or The Story of Nine -Adventurous Girls_ - - How the Linger-Not girls met and formed their club seems - commonplace, but this writer makes it fascinating, and how they - made their club serve a great purpose continues the interest to - the end, and introduces a new type of girlhood. - -2. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE VALLEY FEUD, _or The Great West Point Chain_ - - The Linger-Not girls had no thought of becoming mixed up with - feuds or mysteries, but their habit of being useful soon - entangled them in some surprising adventures that turned out - happily for all, and made the valley better because of their - visit. - -3. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THEIR GOLDEN QUEST, _or The Log of the Ocean -Monarch_ - - For a club of girls to become involved in a mystery leading back - into the times of the California gold-rush, seems unnatural - until the reader sees how it happened, and how the girls helped - one of their friends to come into her rightful name and - inheritance, forms a fine story. - -4. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE WHISPERING CHARMS, _or The Secret from Old -Alaska_ - - Whether engrossed in thrilling adventures in the Far North or - occupied with quiet home duties, the Linger-Not girls could work - unitedly to solve a colorful mystery in a way that interpreted - American freedom to a sad young stranger, and brought happiness - to her and to themselves. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - THE CURLYTOPS SERIES - - By HOWARD R. GARIS - _Author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories"_ - - _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -1. THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM, _or Vacation Days in the Country_ - - A tale of happy vacation days on a farm. - -2. THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND, _or Camping out with Grandpa_ - - The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on - Star Island. - -3. THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN, _or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds_ - - The Curlytops, with their skates and sleds, on lakes and hills. - -4. THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH, _or Little Folks on Ponyback_ - - Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time. - -5. THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE, _or On the Water with Uncle Ben_ - - The Curlytops camp out on the shores of a beautiful lake. - -6. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PETS, _or Uncle Toby's Strange Collection_ - - An old uncle leaves them to care for his collection of pets. - -7. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES, _or Jolly Times Through the -Holidays_ - - They have great times with their uncle's collection of animals. - -8. THE CURLYTOPS IN THE WOODS, _or Fun at the Lumber Camp_ - - Exciting times in the forest for Curlytops. - -9. THE CURLYTOPS AT SUNSET BEACH, _or What Was Found in the Sand_ - - The Curlytops have a fine time at the seashore, bathing, digging - in the sand and pony-back riding. - -10. THE CURLYTOPS TOURING AROUND, _or The Missing Photograph Albums_ - - The Curlytops fall in with a moving picture company and get in - some of the pictures. - - _Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER -CLASSMATES *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40586 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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